And Darkness Falls
by Hybryd0
Summary: Three months have passed peacefully as Kalix's forces recover. That peace is about to shatter as a new General brings the feared Rogues to Earth. Things get worse as a new threat is released. Caught between mighty forces the Rangers struggle to survive
1. Good Intentions, Bad Results

AN: And so begins the next story. Here comes more twists and turns than you can shake a stick at. Enjoy!

ZzZzZ

It was quiet. Quieter than any heavily populated city had the right to be. Harper stared out of the cockpit window at the lifeless city of Daradora. He glanced over at the pilot's seat and met Amias's eyes. His partner didn't look pleased by the aspect of a deserted city and the duty of inspecting the cause. Harper sighed. This was not what he had expected when answering the distress call. He had hoped to find a simple attack to thwart and then get to enjoy the nightlife of Daradora, but sadly it was not to be.

"Let's contact Wolf and tell him what we've found." Amias suggested.

"We haven't found anything yet." Harper replied, but flipped a few switches to send the signal.

Seconds later the cockpit window transformed into a view screen as a man with dark red hair and shinning emerald eyes appeared. Behind him Harper could see a man with white blond hair and icy lavender eyes. They both gave a nod of greeting but not a word was spoken on their end.

"We've reached Daradora, but there's no one in sight." Harper reported. "No one gave us landing coordinates and there's no greeting."

"It looks completely deserted Wolf." Amias added. "Something isn't right."

Wolf and his companion shared a glance before Wolf finally spoke in a smooth, firm voice. "Alright, keep your guard up and contact us immediately if there's a problem. I'll put Prowler and Defender on stand by for back-up."

"Acknowledged." Harper said, he then let a ghost of a smile slip. "Next time send us to a city that isn't deserted."

"Are you suggesting a vacation of some sort?" Wolf asked with a small grin.

"Of course not, Misfits don't get vacations." Harper replied. "But if we got the job done quick enough a short trip to a club wouldn't hurt anybody.

Wolf laughed and looked over his shoulder. "The kid learns fast, Falcon. Kind of reminds me of you."

"Not good looking enough." Falcon replied coolly, but with a wink at Harper. "Watch your backs kids."

"We will old man." Harper replied with a grin and then cut the transmission before either of the older Misfits could retort. He shot a sideways glance at his partner and found Amias in the final stages of shutting down the ship's systems. "They're right though. We definitely need to watch each other's backs out there. Something is definitely not right."

"I think we established that." Amias murmured distractedly as he flipped a switch that put the engines into stand by mode. "Run a scan; see if it picks up anything."

Fifteen minutes later Harper had detected no life signs. It was alarming to say the least. Somewhere in the back of his mind he had hoped the citizens were on some kind of lockdown and forced to stay inside their homes. That seemed less and less likely with no signs of life. Still, the shuttle's sensors weren't the strongest and couldn't penetrate into the underground bunkers where the citizens took shelter from attacks.

Another five minutes later the two men were walking down the dismal streets toward the entrance into a bunker. The large metal doors slid open easy enough and the two entered cautiously. What they found made their hearts stop. The bunker floor was littered with bodies and neither needed to check the vitals to know that they were all dead. They walked through the entire bunker, quite a large distance, but found no one alive. To their surprise and befuddlement they could not seem to determine a cause of death. Either some kind of plague had wiped them out or...they had simply ceased living.

"How many bunkers does the city have?" Amias asked.

Harper grimaced at his younger friend. "Five and we'll have to search them all."

"This is going to be a long night."

ZzZzZ

Kalix glowered at the four surviving Psycho Rangers. After they had freed him he had considered killing them all. They seemed too dangerous to keep around, but they were also very valuable. He still needed them for his plans, though he had begun to lose track of what they were. Conquering Earth was his goal, but the means by which to do so seemed out of his reach for the moment. The Psychos were his best bet of putting a dent in the Earth's defending Ranger team and their allies, but now he was unsure of their loyalty.

"You swear you are loyal to me, yet you jumped at the chance to betray me." Kalix snarled.

"Master Kalix, it was Psycho Red's idea." Psycho Green said in hopes of putting all the blame on the deceased Psycho.

"And you expect me to believe you followed his lead?" Kalix demanded. "Psycho Black was your leader, not Psycho Red. You won't talk me into believing you were against the idea of betraying me." A smirk formed on his face. "Your task is to convince me why I should trust you now."

"And how would you have us do that Master?" Green asked carefully. "Surely words are not enough."

"We did set you free when we didn't have to." Silver added only to be smacked by Gold.

"Do you really think you could keep me locked away forever?" Kalix sneered. "By the time I got in contact with my Generals three of them were already moving into the galaxy with their full armadas. You would have been overrun and not even your mighty powers could have saved you from the wrath of my loyal subjects."

"Fine then, Master, it seems we can't prove our loyalty to you." Green said, hiding the tremble of fear in his voice. "May we at least request to be executed quickly?"

"Executed? Oh no, death is much too good for you. I have other plans for you, something that will secure your allegiance to me."

The four Psycho Rangers glanced at each other, though were unable to see each other's faces. Kalix's words were not comforting in the least. Silver and Gold were still convinced they should have let the raptor rot in his cell, but Green had convinced them that their best bet was to plead forgiveness and maybe find themselves in a better position of escape later. They had of course gone with their leader's decision, but some doubt lingered in each mind. Had they made a mistake freeing Kalix?

"Remove your helmets." Kalix ordered.

The four Psychos shared another look and at Green's nod did as they were told. Kalix felt a small part of himself crow in triumph at the tightly controlled fear on their faces. They may have rebelled against him, but they could not put it out of their minds how powerful he really was. Undefeatable, no, never had he claimed to be undefeatable in all his years of conquering planets. He'd been defeated and sent packing from a few solar systems. However, he had enough confidence in his abilities to use fear as his tool of control. It worked more often than not, but when it didn't he had other means of control.

"Deder, the glasses." Kalix demanded and instantly the white armored being walked forward. Deder was holding a tray with four cups, which he offered to the Psychos. Each obediently took a glass, but did not drink. "Of course you'll be wondering what's in the glasses? Well, I'm going to tell you because this is the fate you have brought on yourselves. They're nanites."

"Nanites, Master?" Kyle repeated.

"Yes, I'm sure you know what they are, but to be sure I'll explain. They're microscopic robots capable of being programmed to do whatever I please." Kalix explained. "One of my scientists has just finished these and I need test subjects. Seeing as how you saw fit to betray me you have volunteered yourselves."

"Master, what will they do to us?" Brandon asked hesitantly. His green eyes stared hesitantly into the cup that seemed to be filled with nothing more than nectar of some sort.

"Whatever I please." Kalix replied. "Now, drink up boys, you've earned it."

The four Psychos looked at each other, fully capable of seeing each other this time. They were each hesitant and fearful and didn't want to drink the nanite cocktail. They didn't want to find out what effects it could have on them. At the same time they didn't have much of a choice. It was either death or servitude and one of them led to no chance of freedom. Knowing that his team would follow his lead, Kyle put the glass to his mouth and quickly downed the contents. As he expected the rest of his team followed his silent command and emptied their glasses.

Kalix looked too pleased for it to be a good thing. His smile was absolutely wicked. "Now, I will show you what happens to traitors. I do believe I can carry out my plans with only three Psycho Rangers."

The four friends looked at each other, immediately worried by Kalix's implications. For a moment nothing happened. Kalix looked toward a being that resembled his raptor form quite a bit, though was at least two times smaller. The flighty little reptile was fiddling with some kind of controller. Kalix rolled his eyes, instantly annoyed with the scientist.

"Pogart!" Kalix barked, making the smaller being jump. "I expect results."

"It will be but a moment Master. As I've said, the nanites would work better with the control chip directly implanted into the controller's mind." Pogart replied uneasily. He flicked his long, whip-like tail nervously.

The Psychos had fixed the scientist with fierce glares when one suddenly faltered. Kyle turned instantly as he heard a gasp beside him and put a hand on Brandon's shoulder. His friend turned to look at him, but Kyle only saw a small nosebleed. That was nothing to concern him, until he noticed how bloodshot his friend's eyes were getting. He heard Brandon's breathing become labored and swallowed thickly as blood trickled from the corner of the young man's mouth.

_Brandon! _Kyle called in his friend's mind.

_Kyle! They're...oh god...they're tearing me apart!_

Kyle jumped at his friend's words and then gave a gasp of horror as blood suddenly flowed from Brandon's nose like a leaky faucet. Then Brandon began to cough up blood, though Kyle hoped he only imagined chunks of lung tissue mixed in. He wanted to help his friend, but there was nothing he could do and he knew it. All he could do was watch as the nanites killed him. Kyle had to look away when blood began to leak from Brandon's eyes, but he looked back instantly when a shaking hand latched onto his shoulder with surprising strength.

_Don't...let...him win Kyle. Please...avenge me._ Brandon barely got the message out.

Kyle felt tears well in his eyes as Brandon began to convulse and blood flowed like a river from every possible outlet. Kyle pried the hand off his shoulder and watched with horror as his teammate flopped around on the ground like a fish out of water. Then all too suddenly Brandon gave a great shudder and then went very still as he demorphed. Kyle felt the loss tear at his heart. Brandon had been his closest friend for five years when they left the academy at the tender ages of fourteen and thirteen. Now, that friendship was gone forever and only one being in the entire universe was to blame.

Instantly his tears stopped falling as Kyle turned blazing eyes on Kalix. With a deep snarl he lunged at the raptor, but blinding pain exploded in his head. The attack was instantly forgotten and Kalix knocked him away with a kick to the chest. Kyle tumbled back and landed before Chris and Sid, who looked at each other in complete and utter shock. Brandon had been their friend too and he was dead. More than that he had been killed by something they could neither fight nor stop and had been forced to watch helplessly as he was killed from the inside.

"Now, I trust you understand the price of disobedience will be a heavy one." Kalix said, sounding entirely too pleased. "I trust I have your undivided loyalty now."

"Yes Master." The three remaining Psychos answered quickly.

_Until we can find a way to tear you limb from limb. _Sid thought darkly. _I won't show this monster any mercy._

_He deserves none. _Chris agreed.

Kyle growled deeply. _And he won't get any._

ZzZzZ

They had found the same results at every bunker - dead bodies with no apparent cause of death. Harper was beginning to feel very discouraged by the time they found the last bunker. Upon entering it both rangers immediately felt a tightening in their chests and their instincts screamed. Someone was alive in this bunker and it could have been the murderer himself. Both were instantly on guard, but still did not morph though they did pull their blasters.

As soon as the doors closed behind them they became aware of a very familiar sound, but neither could place it. They moved cautiously and used hand signs to communicate with each other. No sound was made as they passed through the first large chamber and into the second. The sound grew closer as came up to the last chamber. The sound was echoing from within and with dread, Harper recognized what the sound was. He put his pistol up and barged into the chamber and looked through night vision goggles at the chamber around him. It wasn't hard to spot the form sitting upright as everyone else was prone on the ground.

"Mommy, daddy, wake up..."

Amias and Harper shared a saddened look and quickly, but quietly went toward the hunched over figure. Upon getting closer they could see the obvious dragon features of a draconan and could also tell it was a fairly young one too, too young to be without parents. Two leathery, but soft looking frills on the sides of the head indicated it was a female. The two approached cautiously. She was young, but even young draconan's could be dangerous.

Suddenly she stopped crying and looked up. Her face twisted with fear and then quickly shifted to look as fierce as she could. Amias and Harper shared an amused, but sad look. She was barely three feet tall and couldn't have looked intimidating no matter how hard she tried.

"Calm down little one, we aren't going to hurt you." Harper said in a soothing voice.

The little blue draconan didn't look appeased and hissed. "Stay back."

"Your mommy and daddy are sleeping little one and they won't be waking up." Harper said gently.

"They have to wake up. They have to." She whispered.

Harper smiled sadly. "I'm sorry little one. But they would not want you to stay here and fall asleep like them. They would want you to come with us and live."

"What's your name little one?" Amias asked, slowly approaching her. At her hesitation he quickly added. "My name's Amias and this is Harper."

"May we know your name little one?"

The little draconan did not speak for a few minutes more, before her small musical voice broke the silence. "My name's Cal'ias."

"That's an awful pretty name." Harper said with a big smile. "Would you like to come with us Cal'ias?"

There was hesitation again, but eventually she nodded. Amias crept forward and held out his arms. The little draconan leapt into his arms, but then scrambled to sit on his broad shoulder. He grunted, straining just a little. She was small, but heavy just the same. Her taloned feet dug into his shoulder a little and he knew she was drawing blood, but any pain he felt was overshadowed by a soft rumbling in his ear. She was purring not unlike a cat. He felt her tail wrap around his back and under the armpit opposite of which she was sitting on.

"Are you comfortable?" Amias asked his passenger.

"Yep." She chirped as if her parents weren't dead.

Amias and Harper shared a small smile and then headed out of the bunker. They knew they needed to ask the little one what had happened, but neither wanted to. It was probably traumatic to one so young, but at the same time she might not have really understood what was going on. Her facts would be more straightforward without false opinions coloring everything.

"Harper, we need to explore a little more, but I don't want to take her with us." Amias told his partner. "I think we should settle her into the shuttle and then finish."

"No, we can't risk it." Harper replied. "She'll be safer with us."

Amias didn't bother to argue with his older companion. The two of them headed out of the bunker and then Amias felt drawn to some place out of town. Without thinking he followed this new instinct and knew that Harper would be right behind him. His friend didn't ask any questions. They had learned a few months ago that sometimes Amias's instincts just led them places and he didn't have much control over it.

Soon enough they found themselves walking down a staircase that seemed cut into a hillside. It grew dark and musty as they got deeper and deeper. For a moment it seemed as if the stairs would go on forever, but quite suddenly they found themselves at the bottom. They found a fairly long corridor with writing etched up and down both walls all the way to a door cut into the stone. Both Rangers recognized it as an offshoot of an ancient universal language, but it was just different enough that neither of them could read it.

Amias frowned as they neared the door. He felt cold. Not just his skin and whole body, but he felt cold on the inside too. Whatever was behind the door chilled his soul. With a glance at Harper he found his friend had stopped walking. He couldn't see Harper's eyes behind the night vision goggles, but he could see the frown on his friend's face. He noticed Harper's hands were clenched and sweat was trickling down his forehead.

"Harper, you okay man?" Amias asked.

"Something's really wrong." Harper replied softly. "We need to get out of here."

Amias turned to look at the unassuming door. His feeling of foreboding was strong, but his curiosity was stronger. He took a step toward the door but stopped. He felt as if a clawed hand had just grabbed hold of his heart and squeezed. For a moment he couldn't breathe, but it passed and the clawed hand was gone and replaced with a warmth he recognized as his own ranger power.

"Amias?" Harper questioned, now the one concerned for his partner.

Amias never got a chance to reply. On his shoulder the little draconan girl began to mutter something. It was a language he didn't recognize, but knew it wasn't draconan as he was fluent in it. His stomach clenched when he realized she was reading the inscription on the door.

"Cal'ias don't read that!"

But it was too late. The draconan finished the inscription and for a moment nothing happened. Then there was an ominous rumble and the door blew apart. Amias snatched Cal'ias from his shoulder and bent over her to protect her from the flying slabs of rock. He heard Harper grunt and could only hope his friend was okay as a piece of flying rock clipped his shoulder and tore an uncontrolled yelp out of him. His lungs burned as he breathed in particles of stone and he coughed raggedly. As things began to settle Amias quickly checked on Harper and found his friend shook up, but otherwise okay.

Amias kept Cal'ias wrapped protectively in his arms as he turned to face the door. The sight that greeted him turned his blood to ice. A woman with long jade green hair was practically floating through the door. She wore some kind of silver armor over her chest and legs and had one gauntlet on her right fist up to her elbow. Dark energy crackled from her in an ominous warning of the power hidden within. However, the most shocking feature, and perhaps what scared Amias the most, was her bright glowing white eyes.

"A Holder." Amias whispered fearfully.

"Holder? No my boy, that name is for the weaklings aligned to the White." The woman said with a dark, distorted voice. "I am one of the Dark Ones, the Dohri in the ancient language."

Neither ranger got a chance to comment as she raised one hand palm up and blasted them down the hall. Amias had dropped Cal'ias just in time to keep the draconan from being harmed, but now the little girl was defenseless before the mighty Dohri. The dark Holder floated closer to Cal'ias and smirked as the girl cowered behind one of the broken pieces of the door. The little girl posed no threat and the Dark One passed her by, floating on toward the barely conscious rangers.

"You Power Rangers are as predictable as ever." The woman said. "Your creators were foolish and naïve when they imprinted their own beliefs on the power. It has infected you, made you weak. You use your power to help others when you should use the power to help yourselves. Pathetic really." She sneered as she neared the fallen men. "Your need to know what killed all those people will be your downfall."

"You killed them?" Amias gasped, barely conscious enough to comprehend what he was hearing.

"Oh yes." The woman said with dark glee. "I stole the life force from them all. Only one survived, but I will soon remedy that as well."

"No!" Amias tried to get up to go to Cal'ias, but the dark Holder blasted him back down again.

"Pathetic." She sneered. "As far as Rangers go you are two of the most pathetic I have had the pleasure of killing."

"We're not dead." Harper snarled, already starting to gain some of his strength back.

The woman laughed. "Fools, if I drained the life out of every being on this planet what makes you think you can stop me? The only reason you still live is I have some questions that need answering. Then you can follow in the footsteps of these people you so foolishly came to help."

Amias tried to throw up his mental barriers, but the woman was in his mind so quickly that the darkness of her presence overwhelmed him. Never had he felt such evil before. He was sure she couldn't get through this subconscious wall, but that wasn't what she was after anyway. He gasped as scenes of the battle with Samous flittered through his mind and could feel her obvious curiosity. But it was only one word that sent a chill down his spine and regret coiling in his stomach.

_**Earth...**_

The word was uttered with dark glee. Amias mentally sent out an apology to the Rangers of Earth. He knew that this woman had found what she wanted and it was going to take her to Earth where his friends were already struggling against Kalix. They didn't need another enemy, especially not one that seemed much more powerful than Kalix.

_I'm sorry._

"Now that I've found what I want, you are of no further use to me." The woman sneered.

Harper and Amias could only watch helplessly as she raised both her palms to point at them. Energy crackled around her hands and began to gather into two bright balls. She cackled wildly, but it cut off with a shriek of pain that got both Rangers' attention. Cal'ias had attacked the dark Holder and bitten the woman's thigh. The woman snarled and made to grab the little draconan, but Cal'ias bit her hand hard before scrambling over to Amias. Amias wrapped one arm around her then reached out and grabbed Harper as the woman turned blazing eyes to them.

"DIE!"

And Amias transported all three of them to the ship just as the Dark One released a furious attack. Weakly he moved to his seat and flipped the switches to turn on the cloaking and shielding. All three watched as the dark Holder flew into the air. She seemed to take a moment to enjoy the desolate world she had created before she turned into a glowing ball of energy and shot into space.


	2. Hunter VS Sebastien

Kalix was sleeping soundly for the first time in months. With the nanites controlling the Psycho Rangers, he no longer had to worry about staying partially alert. Three months had passed since they released him; he was finally able to relax and not worry about another rebellion from the Psychos. The three that were left had been subdued ever since watching their teammate killed in such an agonizing way by the nanites. He had nothing to worry about from them.

"Master Kalix."

Kalix snorted, but didn't wake.

"Master Kalix."

Again no there was no response from the sleeping raptor.

"Master Kalix, I have important news." Deder tried. He knew his master needed sleep, but the news was dire and needed Kalix's full attention immediately. "Master Kalix, General Mikos needs you."

"Fine, I'm awake." Kalix snarled, eyes snapping open. "Tell Mikos I will be there momentarily."

"Yes Master Kalix." Deder replied, unaffected by his master's anger.

Kalix watched his General leave and growled. _Whatever it is had better be worth waking me. _He thought menacingly. There was little he hated more than being woken up. He knew that neither of his Generals would wake him up unless it was a situation they couldn't handle themselves. That spurred him to action as he quickly got up and headed out of the room and to the command room. Deder had just finished addressing someone on the view screen, who Kalix gave a rather nasty glare.

Kalix noted instantly that General Mikos looked as if he hadn't slept in weeks. His usually dark blue skin was pale and there were black bags hanging under his eyes. Normally bright yellow eyes were dull and the alien looked as if he had no strength left. In short, General Mikos was a mess.

"Master Kalix." General Mikos greeted respectfully.

"What is so important that I had to be woken up?" Kalix demanded fiercely.

"Master, the Tarsiens, Laoese, and Hindov are all rebelling. The rebels are backed by a powerful team of rangers, another set of Dragon Rangers." General Mikos answered. "These rangers are more powerful than the other two Dragon teams combined. They have already freed six planets and a seventh is almost theirs. Our foot soldiers are no match, not even the droigs, and no monster can stand up to them."

"You have allowed them to free six planets before you contacted me?" Kalix growled. "That's unacceptable."

"Master, I tried to contact you three months ago, but your Psycho Rangers told me you said to handle it myself and contact you only when I felt I could no longer handle the situation." Mikos replied.

Kalix growled as he thought about his rebellious Psycho Rangers. They would have to be punished for this, but later after he fixed the problem. "I'm coming there. I'll contact General Hindel to bring his Sweepers. Do NOT let the seventh planet fall before I arrive. You still have your life; don't do anything to lose it."

"Yes Master Kalix, the seventh planet will not fall to the rebel scum even if I have to fight them myself." Mikos replied.

Mikos wisely cut his end of the communication leaving Kalix fuming in silence. A rebellion could not be allowed to succeed. If one system became free then others would get the idea to rebel. He had no doubts in his mind that his empire could handle rebellions with an unlimited amount of foot soldiers, but he did have a limited amount of monsters and Special Forces. Rebellions had to be crushed ruthlessly and as quickly as possible and those involved had to be punished as cruelly as possible.

"Deder, call General Tarnin." Kalix barked.

Seconds later Kalix was looking at his third in command. General Tarnin appeared to be nothing more than the average human. He had spiky black hair and pale skin. It was his eyes that gave him away. Tarnin had cat-like yellow-green eyes that seemed to glow slightly from their own inner light. Kalix had always been intrigued by his third in command, but had never let his curiosity distract him from the jobs at hand.

"Master Kalix." Tarnin greeted respectfully. His voice was smooth and calm, but always held a slight hint of malice.

"No time for pleasantries." Kalix snapped. "I must go deal with a rebellion. I want you to come take my place and continue the campaign against Earth. I am leaving you Deder, the Knights of Destruction, and my Psycho Rangers. I trust you have kept up with events here?"

"Yes Master Kalix. I know that you have been recovering from the Psycho Ranger's rebellion for the past three months and have not attacked Earth." Tarnin replied.

"I want that to change." Kalix said. "I want to see progress by the time I return."

"Yes Master Kalix."

"Good. Be here in three hours."

"Yes Master Kalix, I will be there."

ZzZzZ

No one could understand it. The disturbance between Hunter and Sebastien had steadily gotten worse over the three-month break. The tension had turned into outright animosity. To an outsider it would have looked like they hated each other, but no one believed that. Dustin had been trying to get Hunter to talk to Sebastien in friendly way and clear the air between them, but it wasn't happening. Hunter had tried once, but Sebastien wasn't ready to let him off the hook for treating him so poorly and the talk had disintegrated into an argument. Hunter hadn't tried since then and things had just gone down hill.

"We have to do something about those two." Dustin said as they watched the two rangers in question go through a teamwork simulation.

Shane frowned. "Yeah, but what? I don't think they even want to work things out."

"They do, they just don't know it yet."

Tori and Shane shared an amused look at Dustin's words. He was a lot more perceptive than people gave him credit for. He was a lot more perceptive than_ they_ had originally given him credit for being. The whole crisis with the Psycho Rangers had really forced Dustin to show more of his mature side and a lot of the air head was gone, though he was far from serious all the time. A lot of laughing and joking still went on, but there was a subdued nature behind it all.

A cry of pain and anger from the sim room caught the three Rangers' attention. They all looked to see Sebastien sitting on the ground with a hand to the back of his head. They couldn't see Hunter's face because he was morphed, but his body language screamed surprise. It didn't take much to figure out what had happened. Hunter had accidentally hit Sebastien. All three held their breath as they waited to see how Sebastien would react.

Sebastien sat for a moment, stunned by the blow, but anger quickly rose to the surface. With a snarl he clambered to his feet and took several menacing steps toward Hunter, who wasn't at all bothered. It only took a few steps before they were faceplate to faceplate yelling accusations back and forth. That was normal and how almost all their interactions turned out, but this time was worse than usual. The next thing the onlookers knew Hunter and Sebastien were furiously fighting and it was obvious they weren't just sparring.

Hunter blocked a punch and twisted his arm around quick enough to catch Sebastien's wrist. With a ferocious yank he pulled the Ice Ranger off balance and right into a harsh kick to the ribs. Sebastien tumbled backwards, but used the momentum to roll to his feet and back flipped several times as Hunter came at him. Sebastien twisted away from another kick to the ribs and caught Hunter with several quick jabs to the side and ducked as the Crimson Ranger flung his arm out in an attempt the catch him. Hunter turned with ease and kneed Sebastien in the faceplate, snapping the White Ranger's head backwards. That left Sebastien open for another brutal kick to the chest that knocked him flat on his back. Hunter moved to try and do some more damage but was grabbed from behind and hauled backwards.

"Enough you two!" Shane boomed. "I've had enough of this! Demorph both of you"

Over the three-month quiet they had worked quite a bit on teamwork and Shane had been growing more and more as a leader. The team had learned to really respect and trust his leadership and had learned not to disobey him. Both Rangers demorphed as ordered and glared at each other with fierce hatred.

Sebastien pushed to his feet, still glaring at Hunter. "I've had enough of this too! This is bullshit! Ever since I got here you've done nothing but treat me like utter crap. What have I done to you Hunter? What have I done to deserve this treatment, huh?"

"You breathe." Hunter snarled, his anger speaking before his mind caught what he was saying. "You don't belong on the team. All you do is get in my way."

"Hunter!" Dustin exclaimed, disgusted by his boyfriend's behavior.

Hurt flashed briefly through Sebastien's sapphire eyes before it was covered by anger. "Well, I can gladly fix the problem then. If you want me gone so badly Hunter, then I'm gone."

"Sebastien no." Tori spoke up. "We don't want you to leave."

Sebastien ignored her and shoved past Hunter. He ignored the others as they called out to him and within moments he disappeared down the hall. Hunter blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected Sebastien to react quite like that. He expected some more arguing and maybe a few attempts to get at one another, but the last thing he thought Sebastien would do was give in.

"Great going Hunter." Tori snapped.

"Yeah, that's probably the most disgusting thing I've ever seen you do." Dustin added. Hunter turned to look at his boyfriend. "He totally didn't deserve that and until you can pull your head out of your ass and apologize don't bother talking to me."

"Just don't bother showing your face at all." Shane added. "I suggest you make yourself scarce."

Hunter was too surprised to argue. He scurried out of the room and wondered all the way just what he really did have against Sebastien.

ZzZzZ

"You are to follow General Tarnin's orders as if they were my own." Kalix instructed his Psycho Rangers. "Pogart will be staying here with the controller for the nanites. Think of causing trouble in my absence and you will suffer for it."

"Yes Master Kalix." The three Psychos said respectfully.

"Also, do not cause trouble with the Rogues. No riling them up and starting fights."

"What if they start them?" Silver asked before his mind could catch him.

"Then just don't seriously injure them." Kalix replied, knowing that asking them not to defend themselves would never work. "Just avoid them as much as possible."

"Yes Master Kalix."

"Good. Now, you're under Deder's command until General Tarnin arrives." Kalix said. "Understood?"

"Yes Master Kalix."

Kalix smirked. "Very good. Dismissed."

The three Psycho Rangers quickly made a beeline for the door. Kalix watched them go with a very satisfied smirk. There was no way they would dare cross him now. He briefly regretted not thinking of this kind of control from the beginning, but he had arrogantly assumed he could implant enough fear in them to control them easily. He had been proven wrong, but he was capable of learning from his mistakes. When the Psycho Rangers disappeared out the door Kalix turned to Deder as his white armored General stood close by.

"No more laying low Deder. If you get an opening to make a move, do so." Kalix ordered. "When General Tarnin gets here things will go into full swing. Until then attack only when the opportunity presents itself."

"Yes Master Kalix."

ZzZzZ

Sebastien fumed as he went about packing his belongings. He didn't have much. He had used the synthesizer to create several different outfits and that was the extent of what he owned. Everything else was with his academy. Therefore it only took him five minutes to pack everything and prepare to leave. He was just getting ready to transport when the door buzzed. He hesitated because he knew who it was and knew the older boy had come to talk him out of it.

"I'm sorry Dustin." Sebastien said and then transported.

Sebastien had never gotten to properly explore Blue Bay Harbor. Each time he had been there it was to fight invading forces. Now wasn't the time for sight seeing either. He needed to find someplace to lay low until he could get back to Missouri. It was times like this he wished he had never left home. He would have been so much better off if he had refused the offer to return with the rangers. At least it was a mistake he could learn from.

ZzZzZ

"Where are the guns? If I was The Hood I would have just shot Alan and be done with it. Then the rest of the rat pack could fry in space."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Well, for one it's a children's movie Sid. For two the movie would have been over too soon if The Hood had just shot the kid."

"I would have blown up the island." Kyle commented. He had to admit to himself that when the Terrible Twosome had invited him to watch Thunderbirds with them he had been reluctant. It was only when Sid gave him puppy dog eyes that he gave in. He knew they were just trying to do something to take his mind off of Brandon. Sid and Chris were both a lot more thoughtful than anyone else knew.

"The Hood wanted the Thunderbirds to commit crimes with." Chris argued. "Blowing them up would have totally defeated the purpose of tracking Thunderbird One to the island."

"And saved him a lot of trouble." Kyle replied. "Two missiles and he never would have had to worry about International Rescue again."

"You take all the fun out of being a bad guy." Sid said. "Tormenting and causing grievous amounts of emotional suffering is part of the fun."

"It's also why all the villains always fail in movies."

"You're lucky this is a movie Sid." Chris spoke up suddenly, catching both his teammates off guard.

Sid quirked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because I'd drop you for all four of the older Tracy sons in a heartbeat."

"Feelings mutual pal."

"We could share."

"Hell no, get your own incredibly hot and sickeningly noble boy toys." Sid taunted.

Chris pouted. "See if I ever offer to share with you again."

"Oh will you horny bastards shut up." Kyle barked. "I can't hear the movie."

The Terrible Twosome started to reply when a now familiar buzz overrode all their other senses for a moment. Kyle's attention snapped to them at the obvious summoning and wondered why he hadn't been summoned as well. Still, they had learned the lesson the hard way that only those summoned were allowed in the command room. He resigned himself to watching the rest of the movie and was ashamed to admit that he was actually interested in how it would turn out, though he knew without question that the good guys would win.

Chris and Sid quickly morphed and zipped to the command room. Both felt slightly uncomfortable with Deder being in charge. During the coup they had not been very gentle with the armored General. They knew he didn't have emotions, but couldn't help but fear he would want to retaliate.

"The Ice Ranger is by himself. Take care of him." Deder ordered without looking at the two Psychos.

Silver and Gold breathed a sigh of relief. They didn't need to see each other's face to know they were both grinning deviously. Three months without action was killing them. They were glad it was the White Ranger who had slipped up and presented himself as a target. Without a word they transported.

ZzZzZ

Hunter hadn't quite made it to his room when he bumped into Blake. He hoped that maybe his younger brother hadn't heard yet what he'd said, but one look into his eyes squashed that thought. Blake's dark eyes were angry and accusing. He prepared himself for an angry speech, but there was nothing. Blake glared at him for a few minutes and then quietly shoved past him. Blake's silence hurt even more than angry words would have, because he knew he deserved to be ripped up good. Hunter quickly went the rest of the way to his room to think things through. He needed to right the situation before it got any worse.

ZzZzZ

Sebastien's stomach growled and he inwardly berated himself for not bringing food. He didn't have money and had no way of earning any. With a sigh he resigned himself to going to a shelter. He had only ever gone once when he had tried to run away, but John and Alec had dragged him back kicking and screaming the whole way.

Sebastien's heart did a flip at the thought of his brothers. He had been trying not to think of them for a while. He hadn't heard from any of them in so long. His parents had all but disowned them for not becoming teachers at the Academy like they had wanted. His parents had destroyed any means of contacting them. Only a few weeks before Lothor captured the school Sebastien had found a hidden box with at least twenty letters from his brothers. He missed them and he wished that they were there to help him.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? One little Ranger all by himself."

Sebastien froze in his tracks and looked up. His stomach plummeted to his feet. Psycho Gold was leaning nonchalantly against the wall of a building in front of him. He didn't need to see Psycho Silver to know that he was around somewhere. The two Psychos were never far from each other. That meant he needed to morph quickly and keeping his identity secret was no option.

"Ice Storm, Ranger Form! HA!"

His morph had just completed when he was struck from behind. He was knocked forward and ducked as Gold tried to clothesline him. He spun quickly, but a vicious kick to the chest sent him flying back into a light pole. The pole gave way easily and he tumbled a few feet before coming to a stop. His body throbbed, but he knew he couldn't afford to lay around in pain. He rolled to the side and listened to Silver's hand blades dig into the concrete. He was on his knees when Gold came at him with both sickles ready. Sebastien got one foot under him and then used that to push him into a tackle. Gold seemed ready for it and dropped both sickles. Sebastien plowed into him and was surprised as Gold latched onto his shoulder and dragged him closer. Realizing his mistake Sebastien tried to pull back, but both Gold's hands latched onto his throat before he could move and instantly his air supply was cut off.

"Foolish move kid." Gold taunted. "Never throw yourself at the enemy."

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you were teaching the shrimp a lesson." Silver said, coming to watch casually as his partner choked the life out of their enemy.

Had Sebastien been a normal human he would have been helpless as Gold flipped them over. Gold's knees pinned his legs to the ground and Sebastien didn't have the strength to pull Gold's hands away from his throat. But Sebastien wasn't a normal human and he had powers at his disposal to help him. In an instant Gold's arms were encrusted in ice up to the elbow and he jerked away with a surprised yelp. Sebastien then decked the Psycho and scrambled to his feet and pulled his kama. He got into a fighting stance, but immediately had to go on the defensive as Silver attacked him.

"C'mon kid, is that all you've got?" Silver taunted.

Sebastien knew he was in deep trouble when Gold got to his feet. He tried to back away from the two Psychos, but Silver pursued him. Gold leapt right into the battle and Sebastien was struggling more and more. He swung his kama at Silver's neck, but the Psycho caught the handle and jerked him forward into a stiff kick. As Sebastien stumbled back Gold followed with an upper cut that sent Sebastien flying onto the roof of a car before tumbling onto the road on the other side. Thinking quickly Sebastien scooted under the car and flattered himself down the best he could, watching his enemies circle the car, one going one way and one the other. It was a chance to transport to safety, but they were in the middle of town and he feared the Psychos would turn on the innocent citizens instead. His ranger instincts wouldn't let that happen.

He couldn't transport to safety, but if he fled they would have to chase him and that would give him time to think of a better plan or possibly find an advantage. Before the two Psychos could realize what had happened he blasted their feet with ice and froze them to the ground. He then slid out of the opposite side of the car, shoved to his feet, and took off running. He didn't want to streak and possibly lose the Psychos, he had to make sure they followed, but he knew as soon as they broke free they would streak after him.

Instinctively he ducked and a sickle shot over his head. A dodge to the side and he watched Silver streak by. For a few minutes he was able to duck and dodge his much faster pursuers. Then an ice patch appeared out of no where and he had no chance. His foot hit the ice and he practically flew into the air before landing hard on his back. The wind was knocked out of him and he felt like he was dying, but knew he couldn't lay around. He tried to roll onto his hands and knees to get up, but a foot was planted in the middle of his back and he was shoved back down, knocking the air out of him again. He briefly wondered where the ice had come from, but he didn't have a chance to really think about it.

"Not too bad kid, but as usual not good enough." Gold taunted.

The foot was removed and he was snatched up. The quick move disoriented him and didn't even get a chance to struggle as his arms were jerked behind his back. He tried to kick at Silver with both his feet, but the Psycho simply caught the flailing limbs and held them tightly. Sebastien was suddenly helpless in their grasp and he found with further shock that he couldn't seem to use his ice abilities against them anymore.

"What do you think we should do?" Gold questioned.

"Streak in opposite directions." Silver replied.

"Too messy." Gold said, which Sebastien was immensely grateful for.

"Crunch him together?"

"We could methodically break every bone in his body."

Sebastien felt a chill go down his spine. They didn't need to verbally communicate. They were doing it just to scare him. He was ashamed to say it was working. He was struggling, but the two bigger men were too strong and he was only hurting himself. His shoulders screamed at the angle they were being put into. Every movement Gold made was torture and Silver was slowly twisting his ankles in opposite directions.

Suddenly his arms were released and he was flying through the air. He slammed into an unforgiving brick wall and his head snapped back with enough force to knock him senseless. He came back to reality when a vicious kick connected with his ribs. With a yelp he tried to get away, but the wall was to his back and the Psychos were blocking every other escape route. He groaned as Silver grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up. He suddenly wished very much that he hadn't left the safety of the ship and wondered if his teammates would be alerted in time to save him.

ZzZzZ

Cam nearly jumped out of his skin as the alarms blared to life. He had taken to staying on the bridge and with the Battle Rangers' permission had begun to learn the systems. Therefore it was easy for him to bring the emergency up on the screen where he could see it. What he saw made him gasp, but he otherwise kept his cool and rolled the chair over to the intercom system and pushed the ship wide button. He'd learned quickly how the Battle Rangers used to report situations to their teammates and with a little reluctance everyone else had learned as well. It saved the trouble of everyone rushing to crowd the bridge.

"Two on White. Situation critical." Cam announced.

"Understood." Came Shane's voice. He had really, really come into his own as a leader. "Dustin, Tori, and I will go. Everyone else stay on high alert."

"Understood."

The unanimous response made Cam's heart flutter slightly. He was intensely proud of how far his friends had come in three months. They had all been learning a great deal from the Battle Rangers, Niko, and Zadan. They were becoming a better team and were more professional than Cam had ever thought the younger rangers could be. Hunter and Sebastien seemed to be the only exception.

"Shane, I want to come." Hunter's voice spoke up before the three Winds could transport.

Cam cocked an eyebrow. He hadn't expected that. Then again, there was still a lot about Hunter that couldn't be anticipated.

"He can take my place." Tori offered. She instantly recognized Hunter's request to go as guilt. Her first thought was to let him suffer for what he had said to Sebastien in the first place. That thought was quickly thrown out by her more caring nature.

"Fine." Shane agreed. "Cam."

"Transporting now." Cam announced. He then flipped the intercom system off and leaned back in his seat. For now the situation was out of his hands and all he could do was watch.

ZzZzZ

Sebastien gave a weak groan of pain as he was lifted off the ground and then thrown with great force into the side of a car. He felt the metal buckle under the attack and felt the sparks it caused across his suit. He knew he needed to get up and fight, but Gold's last kick to his chest had definitely broken some ribs. He couldn't catch his breath and didn't have the strength to move a single muscle of his own will.

"Can we start breaking his bones now?" Silver asked eagerly.

"Sorry Sid, but I think it's time we finish this." Gold replied.

Sebastien could see Gold gathering his fallen sickles and knew it was over. He didn't have the conviction to move. As Psycho Gold moved to stand over him all Sebastien could do was lean helplessly against the car and wait for the end - an end that never came.

Crimson lightning crackled through the air and Psycho Gold was sent sparking away. Silver turned instantly to face the new challenge and barely reacted quick enough to dodge another streak of crimson lightning. Silver snarled at the sight of three of Sebastien's teammates. He could tell the Red Ranger and the Yellow Ranger were both angry, but the Crimson Ranger oozed pure rage. Silver easily remembered that it had been a bolt of crimson lightning that had stopped him from stabbing the White Ranger a second time three months ago.

"Nice timing Rangers." Silver commented. "But it won't be enough."

Silver spun and pointed his hand at Sebastien. Silver energy crackled down the gauntlet and then shot toward the helpless White Ranger. Psycho Silver watched the Crimson Ranger streak in front of the blast. He snarled angrily, but took comfort in the knowledge that the Crimson Thunder Ranger would be out of action for a while. Silver zipped over to Gold and helped his partner to his feet before they both transported away.

Dustin felt like the whole world had stopped when Hunter moved in front of the blast meant for Sebastien. The energy had crackled over Hunter's suit while the pure power of it had lifted him off his feet and thrown him backwards. Dustin could see Hunter moving slowly and felt extremely relieved. He instantly moved to Hunter's side and saw Shane going to Sebastien out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey Frosty, can you hear me?" Shane asked, using his younger teammate's nickname.

"Loud and clear." Sebastien's weakened voice replied.

"Can you move?"

"Can I? Yes. Do I want to? No." Obviously the kid was gaining back some strength if he could joke around.

Shane shook his head with a relieved smile and glanced over at Hunter and Dustin. "How's hero boy doing?"

"Good enough to remind you not to call me hero boy." Hunter replied, though Shane could detect a bit of strain in the voice.

The playful banter continued even after they had all transported back to the ship and straight into the infirmary. Through it all Sebastien remained silent. He was quiet through the examination and didn't protest when Kardan made the announcement that he would be confined to the infirmary for a few days while the ribs healed. In truth, he didn't want to be there. He didn't want to be in the infirmary or on the ship at all.

Hunter waited as he was put through the same process as Sebastien. Kardan checked him over and decided he needed to stay in the infirmary for a little while. Hunter didn't argue because it was just the chance he needed. When both examinations were over and Kardan could confirm that both Rangers would live Dustin and Shane left the infirmary. A few minutes later Kardan did the same. Hunter gathered his wits about him and decided now was the time to suck up his pride and apologize.

"Sebastien."

"Rot in hell Hunter." Sebastien snarled without looking at his teammate.

Hunter flinched. "I guess I deserved that."

"You guess?"

"Okay I did."

There was a sigh that got Sebastien's curiosity and he glanced over at Hunter. His gaze hardened as he remembered the painful words Hunter had spat at him only hours ago. "What do you want? Don't you think you've said enough?"

"I've said enough." Hunter agreed softly. "Just not enough of the right stuff."

"What?"

Hunter sighed and rubbed his face as he tried to think of the right words to say. Expressing his emotions had never been easy and trying to explain reasons of his actions was worse. Of course, he understood there were no acceptable excuses for the way he had treated Sebastien, but his teammate deserved to know why.

"I don't fully understand all the reasons why I've been treating you the way I have." Hunter said. "I guess on one hand I was jealous of you--."

"Jealous, why?" Sebastien interrupted before he remembered he was supposed to be angry with Hunter.

"Because even though you're obviously hiding something and have probably lied about things, the others accepted you quicker than they did me." Hunter replied.

"From what I understand you and Blake first showed up as enemies. Of course they wouldn't trust you." Sebastien reasoned. "I presented myself as an ally from the beginning."

"And they never questioned it."

"That bothers you?"

"I guess so."

Sebastien frowned. "Don't you know your own emotions?"

"Sometimes." Hunter said with a bit of a smile. "Sometimes they run away with my mind and I stop thinking like a human."

"Okay, this is all really interesting, but I don't think that really explains where your hatred came from." Sebastien said.

Hunter frowned as he thought about it. Hatred? Was there really any hatred towards Sebastien? He didn't even really need to ask the question to know the answer. He didn't feel any hatred toward his younger teammate. If he hated him at all he wouldn't have saved his life twice, one of the times by throwing himself right in the line of fire. Okay, that wasn't true. His instincts had reacted before he could stop himself both times, but he knew that if he had understood what he was doing he wouldn't have stopped himself. It had been instincts that had moved him, but his heart had consented.

"I don't hate you." Hunter finally said. He frowned deeper at Sebastien's snort. "I really don't. I don't trust you because I feel like you're hiding something important from us. I've been rotten to you because of my jealousy, but I don't hate you."

"Hunter...the only thing I'm hiding is why I wasn't taken with the rest of my school." Sebastien said after a long bout of silence. He glanced over at Hunter again where his teammate was lying on his side still watching him, having also been confined to the infirmary. "I'm not ready to tell you that, but I can tell you it's not that I was secretly working for Lothor and have been spying on you this whole time."

Hunter snorted. "I never even considered that."

"Oh don't give me that." Sebastien said, though the tone of his voice was beginning to lighten. Hunter shifted his gaze to look toward the door of the infirmary. "It's crossed your mind because I know it would have crossed mine. Trust me, I'm not hiding anything malicious. I just...I'm not ready to reveal anything yet."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you guys to hate me." Sebastien replied.

Hunter's eyes snapped back to Sebastien, but he found his younger teammate had drifted to sleep. Hunter could have smacked himself. Sebastien wasn't hiding anything that would hurt them. He was hiding something that hurt himself. Hunter found that to be more of a reason to get it out in the open, but he wasn't going to push it. There were more important things that needed to be said. He knew full well that Sebastien was asleep, but the words slipped out before he could stop them.

"I'm sorry."

Now he just hoped he'd have the courage to say those words again when they really mattered. His status on the team depended on it. Everything depended on it. Especially, and arguably the most important, his relationship with Dustin.

VvVvV

AN: Thank you to MzDany, lightningboltz, and the real vampire for your reviews. Also, thank you as always to my wonderful beta-reader Weesta.


	3. Meet the Rogues

ZzZzZ

"So everyone was dead except for the little one and then she just happened to release a Holder?"

Amias glanced at Harper as Wolf cut down their experience to those few bits of information. It sounded kind of strange to both of them as well. Why hadn't the Dark One killed Cal'ias as well? Had she somehow known that Cal'ias would set her free? There were too many questions and not enough answers.

"That's right Wolf." Harper confirmed. "And we know she's headed for Earth."

"Not good." Wolf commented. Behind him Falcon didn't look pleased either. "She'll be gathering forces along the way. We'll have to make other Misfits aware of what's happened."

"Phoenix isn't going to be pleased." Falcon said.

"When is he?"

"Guys." Amias cut in before the partners could really get going. "What should we do?"

"You know the Rangers of Earth. You both even have teammates still there. What do you think you should do?" Falcon asked like it was the most obvious thing ever.

"Head to Earth as if a super nova was on our ass?" Harper said with a grin.

"Quicker if you can manage it." Wolf added. "We'll try and find a team closer that can send a message, but I don't think anyone is working even close to that side of the galaxy."

"Understood. We'll have to hope we can beat her there." Amias said, sharing a worried look with Harper.

Harper nodded in agreement. "Should we try and find a draconan family for Cal'ias?"

"You don't have the time. You have to get to Earth and give them some kind of warning." Wolf said. "It's not likely they'll survive a direct attack from a Holder like the one you described, but they might just have a chance to evacuate."

"Earthlings are especially stubborn. They also don't have ships capable of long distance space travel." Harper said. "Their only hope is to fight and win."

"Then stop chatting with us and get on with it. They'll need everyone they can get."

ZzZzZ

Deder looked on impassively as General Tarnin strode into the command room. Tarnin was tall and muscular and had an air of confidence about him that was inspiring to troops. In his movement Deder could recognize hidden agility and speed that the General could use at the drop of a hat. Deder felt Tarnin's eyes sweep over him, but they didn't stay long. He had worked with General Tarnin several times and remembered that Tarnin was detail oriented and could take in vast amounts of information at the sweep of an eye.

"Where are those Psycho Rangers I have heard about?" Tarnin asked in his smooth voice.

"I will have them summoned." Deder said.

Tarnin's eyes swept over to Deder. "Get them yourself."

"Yes General." Deder replied, bowing respectfully before leaving.

Tarnin watched him with eyes that darkened with hatred, but a hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality with a jerk. He instinctively smacked the hand away and spun to grab the owner by the throat. He glared into a pair of aquamarine eyes as four hands reached up to grasp his arm.

"Never sneak up on me Nassa." Tarnin warned, his voice cold but smooth as ever.

"Sorry sir." Nassa gasped out.

Tarnin shoved her backwards and regarded her with a sweep of the eye. She was a warrior through and through. Her build was muscular, but he knew she could be quick and agile. Her four arms gave her an advantage when it came to hand to hand combat. She was more than a warrior though, she was often his emissary and always his second in command. Her long raven hair was braided beautifully leaving her dazzling aquamarine eyes unobstructed. She was wearing sparkling silver armor that he knew she took great pains to keep in tip top shape. The same went for all four of her weapons. She was armed with one axe at each hip and two swords on her back. He pitied the fool that crossed her.

"Sir, what are your orders?" Nassa asked, a little intimidated by her boss's gaze.

Tarnin smiled and his features lightened quite a bit. "Have the Aeroi make sure the ship is secured. Also, make sure the new Lizarians understand who the boss is around here."

"Yes sir." Nassa said with a wicked grin. "And what about the Rogues?"

"Send them in here. I want the Psychos to see what a real team looks like." Tarnin replied with a wicked grin of his own. "Let the Rogues know I wish them to be gentle."

"Yes sir."

ZzZzZ

Dustin hummed softly to himself as he strolled through the ship corridors. Sebastien and Hunter had finally come to some kind of understanding. Hunter still wasn't happy that Sebastien was hiding something, but his anger had turned into concern. That was more than anyone had hoped for though it had been an obvious development. Hunter had been protective of Sebastien despite his anger and distrust. When Sebastien had really needed him Hunter had been there to watch his back, probably without consciously doing it.

That had lightened the mood on the ship considerably. It seemed that everything was finally coming together. They were undergoing long hours in the simulator and then continuing their training with Sensei. It was hard work and they were exhausted a lot of the time, but it was a great feeling to know they were getting better. They stood a better chance against Kalix than they had before. The team confidence was through the roof. When Kalix made his next move he would find a unified, highly trained team ready to kick his ass.

"That's not good news."

Dustin stopped as Kardan's voice floated out of the bridge. The worry in Kardan's voice sent a shot of adrenaline through Dustin. He stepped back so as not to be seen while he listened. He knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but something in Kardan's voice warranted concern.

"No, it's not good at all." An unfamiliar voice replied. "General Tarnin poses just as great of a threat as Kalix. However, the Rogues are much worse than the Psycho Rangers."

"I had hoped it would be a while yet before the Rogues came into play." Kardan said with a defeated sigh. "The Rangers aren't ready for them yet."

"There's nothing I can do about that." The voice replied. Dustin desperately wanted to see who Kardan was talking to. "Give them a warning, but I fear it won't be enough to save them."

"You've done all you can lad. You put yourself at great risk contacting me."

"I had to." The voice replied.

"I know." Kardan said with a warmth in his voice that he usually reserved for Harper and Sizvu. "Go before you're caught lad."

"Good luck."

"You too."

Dustin turned and quickly walked away. The conversation aroused his curiosity. Obviously there was some kind of spy in Kalix's forces. He didn't think it could be a Rogue though, not from what he'd learned about them. Rogues were evil enough to turn against their teams and everything that made them Rangers. He doubted a Ranger could fit in with Rogues as any good Ranger would never be able to ignore their instincts. He determined that it couldn't be a Rogue and decided to make it his mission to find out who the spy was.

"All Rangers please report to the War Room."

Dustin immediately turned and headed back towards the bridge. As he passed Kardan stepped out and joined Dustin silently. Dustin suspected that Kardan could figure out that he had overheard the conversation. Dustin was too close to the bridge not to have heard, but he knew Kardan wouldn't call him on it. Dustin didn't know details, but he planned to find out. It was a blessing to be more perceptive than people gave him credit for.

Inside the War Room Hunter and Sebastien were already there laughing and joking. To anyone who didn't know any better they seemed like hey had always been friends. Dustin was proud of how far the two had come in a few days. There was still a little tension between them, but for the most part they were growing fairly close even though Sebastien still hadn't revealed what he was hiding.

Dustin took a seat beside Hunter as everyone else began to slowly troop in. Quicker than usual all the occupants of the great ship were sitting in the War Room. No one said a word as they waited for what was to come. Only Sizvu looked like he was concerned for he knew that only something serious would warrant the use of the War Room.

"Okay, everyone grab your data pads and get ready." Kardan said. "General Tarnin has arrived and he has his Rogues with him."

"Who is General Tarnin?" Dustin asked.

"Please, no questions yet. Just pick up the data pad and pay attention." Kardan replied gently, but firmly.

Dustin did as he was told and saw that a profile was pulled up on the small data pad. He glanced up as a projector in the middle of the table suddenly came to life the image of a tall, handsome man appeared with realistic detail. It wasn't the face of evil that stared at them, but one of calm kindness. It was obviously deceiving, Dustin was sure of that as he looked through the information on the profile.

"As you can see on your data pads, this is General Tarnin. He's Kalix's third in command and much more of a threat than you can believe." Kardan said. "He's been instrumental in many of Kalix's campaigns including those against Banar, Dragonian Six, and many more."

"His looks are deceiving." Sizvu spoke up, echoing Dustin's thoughts. "He's a ruthless, cutthroat monster. He barely serves Kalix and given the chance would gladly overthrow him."

"We cannot underestimate this enemy. You must be prepared for anything and everything he might throw at you." Kardan continued. "That being said, your immediate concern are his Rogues. That is what this meeting is about. You all need to become familiar with the Rogues. They are not like the Psycho Rangers. They won't single targets out and stick with a particular Ranger. They are capable of switching opponents without losing momentum."

"And they like to do it quite frequently." Sizvu added.

"Right." Kardan confirmed. "Now, first up is Star Rogue, real name Jarren."

Dustin glanced down at his data pad and scanned over the information displayed.

_Star Rogue-His real name is Jarren Mossix. He is a twenty-five year old human with green eyes and black hair. His weapon is the Star Sword and his attack the Star Burst. Jarren betrayed his planet to General Tarnin when promised power and action. He killed his own brothers-the other Star Rangers-and opened the capital city's defenses to Kalix's forces. Since that time he has been instrumental in no less than ten planet's downfall._

Dustin couldn't believe what he was reading. Hearing about how Rogues turned against their team was a lot different than seeing the cold hard facts presented before him. The Star Rogue had not only turned on his teammates, his brothers it seemed, he killed them as well. The facts were staring him right in the face. This Rogue was a cold-blooded murderer.

"Jarren is the undisputed leader of the team." Kardan said. "I show you him first because he may be the leader, but he is far from the most dangerous. You must fear him as you do the others, but only because of his ruthless cunning and not any kind of overwhelming power."

"Don't let that lull you into false security. He is intelligent, quick thinking, and demonic in more ways than you can comprehend." Sizvu added.

"So, how does he keep control of the others if he's not the most powerful?" Hunter asked. "The Psychos judged leadership by power."

"Make no mistakes here lad, the Rogues operate quite differently from the Psycho Rangers." Kardan replied. "They are a team through and through. Their loyalty to one another is total and complete. Jarren leads because he is the most capable to lead."

"How could they turn on their own teams and yet form bonds with others?" Tori mused.

"Those aligned to the side of evil can find friendship with others in darkness. Just as we are all united in the light." Zadan explained. "And what they say is true. We were once on the same space station and I witnessed two of them mutilate a monster when it cornered one of their teammates."

There was silence for a few minutes as those unfamiliar with the Rogues absorbed what they were hearing. Shane was feeling overwhelmed. Just when he thought he had his team ready to face anything their enemy was throwing another curveball. How was he supposed to lead the team to victory if so many obstacles kept getting piled in front of them? It was too much. He had a feeling they were in way over their heads this time.

"Okay, moving on." Kardan broke the silence. "Next is the Tiger Rogue."

_Tiger Rogue-His real name is Brock Allis. He is a twenty-two year old human with blue eyes and blond hair. His weapons are the tiger claws. Brock brutally murdered the man that had given the team their powers, though his team knew nothing of this. He pointed the finger at his teammate the Grey Tiger Ranger, and allowed the rest of the team to exile him. Then, he led his team into a brutal massacre, slaughtering most of the team himself._

"Wow he's a real piece of work." Hunter commented.

"He's malicious, cruel, and unrelenting." Kardan said. One of his hands went to absently rub his chest. "Nothing short of knocking him out will stop him. I'd wager he'd still fight if both his legs were broken."

"Kept fighting with a shattered arm too." Sizvu mused.

"The best tactic is to knock him out quick." Kardan said "Next we have two Dragon Rogues. One of them was with the Alpha Squad and the other was Delta Squad."

_Red Delta Dragon Rogue-His real name is Ryas Du'kas and he is a 28 year old draconan with green skin, yellow eyes, and short red hair. His weapons are the dual-sabers._

_Red Alpha Dragon Rogue-His real name is Ja'lar Wen'sa. He is a 29 year old draconan with red skin, yellow eyes, and long black hair. His weapons are the dual-sabers._

_Ryas and Ja'lar worked together to bring about the downfall of both their Dragon Ranger Squads. Together they slaughtered most of their teammates, but a few escaped. They allowed their blood to be used in a plot to develop a biological weapon against Draconans. The plot was foiled, but they have worked on other such projects since joining the Rogues._

"Ja'lar." Dustin whispered, recognizing the name.

Kardan glanced at the Yellow Ranger thoughtfully. "Do you recognize the name?"

"He would." Zadan said before Dustin could speak up. "The Dragon Dual-Sabers that he uses came from Ja'lar's teammate, Akar."

"Ja'lar was so cruel to him." Dustin murmured. "Akar suffered so much at his hands."

"Akar is still alive." Niko spoke up.

Dustin's head shot up. "What?"

"After Ja'lar led them into the trap Ja'lar stole Akar's dual-sabers to further embarrass him before refusing to kill him. Ja'lar turned him over to Kalix, but where he is now is unknown." Niko explained. "All I know is that his files show him as captured, but not deceased."

"I have to find him." Dustin said with so much conviction it struck a cord in everyone present. "I have to return his dual-sabers."

"I'll contact Amias and ask him to have the Misfits keep an eye and ear out for Akar, but…it's likely they won't find him." Niko assured him. "For now, we need to stay on track and focus on the Rogues."

"Right. Sorry."

"No need to apologize Dustin. It's natural for you to want to help a fellow Ranger, especially one you feel somewhat attached to." Kardan said. "Unfortunately, at this time none of us are in a position to do anything for Akar."

With that the meeting got back on track. They talked about the two Dragon Rogues for a few moments longer before moving on to the next Rogue.

_Yellow Nova Rogue-Her real name is Nila Syan and she is a twenty-three year old human with blue eyes and brown hair. Her weapon is a shotgun that fires supercharged laser pellets and has a razor sharp blade attached. Nila brutally murdered her team's mentor in front of her team before turning on them as well. She escaped them, but sent a trigon bomb into the planet's core. When it blew the planet was ripped to pieces. The fragments of the planet destroyed all the colonies orbiting the planet._

"Destroyed her planet." Tori muttered, completely horrified. The 3D image in the middle of the table sneered at her. Tori felt a chill go down her spine. This was someone worse than Aurias, she could sense it.

"This woman is evil to the core." Sizvu said. "She murdered her own parents long before becoming a ranger, but it had been proven they had been abusive. The court decided she was acting in self-defense and the case was dropped."

"But it sure seems like it might have been in cold blood after all she's done." Kardan added. He squeezed his eyes shut as memories assailed him. "I watched helplessly as she slaughtered children trying to hide."

There was silence again as that little bit of information was absorbed. Tori looked horrified by the idea of someone killing children. It was close to the lowest thing a human being could do. She was almost certain that the Rogue would be her personal nemesis.

"Okay, there's one more woman on the team." Kardan said into the thick silence.

_Green Stealth Rogue-Mekia Bentu is her real name. She is a twenty-five year old human with dark green hair and green eyes. Her weapon is an axe. She was secretly a pedophile behind her team's back. When the Blue Ranger found out she assaulted him as well, raping and brutally beating him, and threatened more punishment if he said anything. He kept quiet until a day before she betrayed them when he took the secret to the Red Ranger. When confronted Mekia killed her leader and then turned on the self-destruct on the base and fled. Her team survived and the Blue Stealth Ranger actively hunts her._

"So maybe the Blue Stealth Ranger will show up." Blake spoke up.

"It's possible. He showed up on Banar, but even he couldn't help us." Kardan said. "I'd contact him if I knew how to."

"If he shows then he shows and if not then we'll make due without him." Shane said.

"And with that being said I have one final Rogue to show you. He is arguably the most despicable of them all."

_Warrior Rogue-His name is Stephen Maxxis. He is a twenty-one year old enran with cobalt eyes and silver hair in his human form. His weapon is the Sword of Valor. He was once the Ranger of Honor, the second in command of the Rangers of Virtue. His betrayal cut deep. In the very moment they needed him the most, Stephen turned on his team and killed the Ranger of Justice and the Ranger of Truth and seriously injured the Ranger of Courage._

"That's not any worse than the other Rogues. What makes him the most despicable?" Sebastien asked.

"He was once the Ranger of Honor and supposed to uphold that virtue in everything he did. To turn his back on the very virtue that gave him power and to use the Power of Honor to murder and enslave is the darkest thing he could ever do." Kardan explained. "Stephen had to call himself something different because Honor is no longer honorable, yet he still draws power from it. It's one of the highest Ranger crimes."

"There are Ranger crimes? Are there Ranger police or Ranger courts?" Dustin asked, getting somewhat off track.

"Well, actually there is an…'organization', not made of Rangers, that enforce the unspoken Ranger laws." Kardan replied. "However, they have since given up on prosecuting the Rogues as all of their retrieval officers keep getting killed."

Hunter looked incredulous. "There are actually laws that Rangers have to obey?"

"Why so surprised?" Kardan asked. "The laws are unspoken because it is engrained deep in every Ranger power."

"Like what?" Hunter still didn't look convinced.

"A Ranger can never kill an innocent by their own hand. A Ranger can't intentionally bring serious harm to a teammate. Obviously betrayal also is out of the question." Zadan said. "It's all common sense stuff, but breaking a law will have consequences."

"Why weren't you two prosecuted?" Shane asked the former Psycho Rangers.

"We were both U.I." Niko said.

Seeing nothing but confused looks, Zadan explained. "Under the Influence. I was under the influence of the amulet and Niko was under a spell."

"How do you guys know so much about this?" Blake questioned. It was something that all of the younger Rangers were starting to wonder.

"A lot of it is our own research." Kardan answered. "Our civilization studied Ranger history intensely."

"Aye and what we didn't learn of our own accord we learned from Kalix during our stay." Sizvu added.

"Plus, Craggan once got a warning when he abandoned me during a battle." Harper added.

"Everything we know we learned from Kalix's database." Niko said. "He likes to know everything he can about his enemies and he considers all Rangers his enemies."

"On that note, please understand that there could be more or less Rogues than this." Kardan said. "The list we have here is that of the Rogues that were present during the war for Banar."

Hunter frowned. "So this might not help us at all?"

"Oh, I highly doubt they're all gone lad."

"All of the Rogues you've just mentioned were still with General Tarnin last time we saw them." Zadan said. "I think there are a few more, but I don't know any details."

"Neither do I." Niko admitted when everyone glanced at him.

"That's why everyone is to keep these data pads with them wherever they go." Kardan said. "Information can be instantly shared and they double as a form of silent communication if the situation ever arises that silence is needed. More than that they have tracking devices that can't be blocked or shut off so that the d-pads can always be tracked and the owner found."

"Helpful little things." Cam mused, instantly intrigued with how they worked.

"You have no idea." Sizvu murmured. His face was impassive, but his eyes held a proud gleam in them. They were obviously his creations.

"Okay, I think that sums up this meeting. You're all free to go."

The room emptied quickly.

ZzZzZ

General Tarnin was not impressed with what stood before him. The three surviving Psycho Rangers were disappointing to him. He had hoped to see great warriors, but that was not what he saw. He saw three kids that had survived on luck, not talent or ability. Oh he could see they thought they were something special, but he knew otherwise. He planned on showing them the error in their thinking. They had nothing to be arrogant about.

"So, you boys are the Psycho Rangers, eh?" Tarnin said after a long staring match between himself and Kyle. "Pathetic."

Chris growled and Sid looked like he might pounce. Kyle put restraining hands on their shoulders. Instantly his two teammates calmed and stood waiting for Tarnin's orders. No orders were given as the doors into the command room slid open and nine warriors entered. Most of them were human, but three were obviously different. Two of them were draconans, but the third was a race that the Psychos had never seen. The man looked human except for the deadly looking scorpion tail and a pair of antennae.

"Ah my Rogues. I believe some of you may already know these three men." Tarnin said. "For the others these three are the only surviving Psycho Rangers. I know it's a lot to ask, but please be as...nice to each other as possible. We are on the same side."

"Nice." One of the Rogues snorted.

Tarnin's head snapped around to glare at the speaker. "Do you have something to say Brock?"

"No sir. Sorry sir." Brock said quickly.

"I didn't think so." Tarnin looked around at all their faces and smiled. "Now, I want all of you to go spar. Split the teams evenly and **no **ganging up on the Psycho Rangers. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" The Rogues replied with unified precision. The three Psychos shared a look. They had a feeling things were going to get very bad for them.

VvVvV

Yes, I'm aware the Rangers of Virtue are very cheesy, but it fit what I was looking for better than anything else. No one has to point this fact out to me one of my betas took great pleasure in doing that herself.


	4. Ranger Smackdown

Kyle knew what was going to happen seconds before it did. Tiger Rogue had been trying to rile Sid up ever since they'd arrived. It was a task that didn't take much. Sid had a quick temper and most people never would have tempted him. But Tiger Rogue had nothing to fear. He towered above Sid at an imposing 7'4'', but size had never stopped the Sid before. Sid lunged at the taunting Rogue, but Kyle reached out with skill learned from five years of dealing with his teammate and snatched Sid by the back of his shirt. Sid was yanked to a stop, overbalanced, and fell on his butt.

"What's the matter Greenie? Afraid I'll hurt the kid...again?" Tiger taunted.

Instinctively Kyle put a hand on Chris's shoulder. He didn't need to look to see his teammate tense. The motion didn't go unnoticed by the Rogues. Kyle knew the situation was just going to continue getting worse. The last time they had been faced with the Rogues the numbers had been more even, though Sid had been in no condition to fight and Chris hadn't been much better. With three against nine the odds weren't in their favor.

"We're supposed to be working together." Kyle said, ignoring Tiger Rogue's baiting.

The Rogues laughed mockingly at that. Kyle didn't find anything humorous about it. Tarnin had specifically told the Rogues to be nice, but then they never had been good about following orders when Tarnin wasn't watching. They got up to a lot more than their master ever knew. And Kyle knew that no matter what the outcome he and his teammates were going to be blamed for what was about to happen.

"We'd never work with pansies like you. Especially not you two." Star Rogue said, throwing a disgusted look at Chris and Sid.

Kyle was instantly reminded of what had started the feud between them. They had all been on the same station together and things had started off rocky, but decent between the two teams. Then Scorpion and Tiger had caught Chris and Sid together in a rather compromising position. Turns out the Rogues were all homophobic in varying degrees of severity. Unfortunately for Sid and Chris, the two that found them just happened to be the violent homophobes. If Garnes hadn't found them and raised the alarm Chris and Sid probably would have been killed. Things never got better from there.

Of course, the worst thing the Rogues did was catch Brandon by himself. Beating up the youngest member of a team was bound to have the worst results. Tarnin and the Psychos handler at the time, Domis, had barely been able to separate them and even then it had taken several hundred Aeroi fifteen minutes to finally take down the last fighters. There was no repairing damage like that. The two teams were doomed to hate each other to the bitter end.

"Tarnin isn't going to like that." Kyle said. _Keep them talking, maybe they won't attack. _Kyle wasn't usually one for backing down from fights, but this was one he knew they wouldn't win. He didn't want to see his teammates beaten again.

"What the boss doesn't know won't hurt us." Nova Rogue said with a devious grin.

"We're not scared of you punk asses." Sid snarled.

Tiger snorted while Scorpion smirked. Faster than the eye could follow Scorpion's tail lashed out. Sid gasped and jumped backward, feeling the wind as the barbed tip barely missed his ear. If the attack had meant to strike he never would have avoided it. His heart thumped painfully in his chest and he stared wide eyed at the Scorpion Rogue.

That was too much for Chris. With a roar like a wild beast he pounced. Scorpion was unfazed and didn't bother to try to avoid the raging Psycho. He caught Chris's fist and showed his strength by swinging Chris into the air and them back into the floor with bone jarring force. Chris lay stunned and unable to breathe for several minutes as Scorpion smirked down at him. Then, Scorpion reached down and dragged Chris to his feet and shoved him toward Kyle. The line of Rogues laughed as Kyle tried to catch his teammate, but the strength of Scorpion's push overbalanced Kyle and they both went down.

Sid snarled and tensed to pounce when the Stealth Rogue stepped forward. The fight drained out of Sid and he instantly backed off. Instead he went to help his teammates up while trying to ignore the snickers from his rivals. He was boiling with rage and hatred, but was resigned to the fact that unless they got more teammates the Psycho Rangers were now going to play second fiddle to the Rogues. That meant enduring humiliating situations like this one.

"Rogues to the command room." Deder's voice boomed over the intercom.

"You got lucky." Star sneered. "But don't think we won't continue this."

Sid shifted his eyes to ignore the lustful stare from the Stealth Rogue that promised all sorts of things he definitely didn't want. Without another word the Rogues left leaving behind a rather shaken up trio.

ZzZzZ

Hunter had never really seen himself as much of a cuddle person, until he had Dustin snuggled nice and warm in his arms. He loved the way he could feel every breath Dustin took, part of it because of his arms wrapped loosely around the younger boy's body and part because of the warm breath of his neck. He loved the warmth he could feel radiating deep into his own being. And he loved the sense of peace that the simple action of holding his boyfriend brought to his battered soul. It was the feeling of love in that one, simple action that made him want to never let go.

"You're warm." Dustin murmured.

Hunter smiled. He loved that sleepy quality Dustin only ever seemed to have in his voice when they were cuddling. It was something that was all his and no one else could have it.

"You're not too cold yourself." Hunter replied softly. He didn't really want to make Dustin think and wake up more. The sleepiness was adorable.

Of course, there was the matter of the growing wet patch on his shoulder. He was just mildly annoyed by the drooling, but that was overruled by the thought of the childish glee he was going to get from teasing Dustin for it. It was the same kind of glee he got from tormenting Blake for the same thing. Of course, the blush was much cuter on Dustin's cheeks and it did something to him that Blake certainly didn't.

"Love you." Dustin murmured deep in clouds of warm fuzzy sleep.

Hunter pulled Dustin closer to him and forgot all about the drool. "Love you too."

The peaceful moment was shattered as alarms blared. Dustin jerked awake and instinctively pulled away from Hunter. The alarms were momentarily forgotten as he felt wetness on the side of his face and blushed deep red as he realized he'd drooled on Hunter. Hunter grinned and ruffled his hair before Cam's voice blasted through the intercom system.

"We've got Rogues issuing a challenge." There was a pause. "Kardan, Sizvu, I think there's something you should see."

"On our way." Kardan's voice replied.

"Right, everyone else morph and go." Shane ordered.

Hunter sighed and stood up as Dustin straightened himself out. "Better wake up quick. Can't afford you going out there not fully awake."

"I'm good." Dustin replied quickly.

"Then let's do this."

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form! HA!"

"Thunder Storm, Ranger Form! HA!"

They then used the coordinates sent to them from Cam and transported. When they arrived the rest of the team quickly joined them. They found themselves faced with an intimidating line of what looked like a mix-matched team of Rangers. There was something off about them though. The colors of their suits were muted, dull, and ugly whereas normal Ranger outfits were bright and vibrantly colored. It was obvious going Rogue did something physically to theirs suits to make the outside as ugly as the inside.

Sebastien stared in horror at the two behemoths on the Rogue team. The Scorpion Rogue was at least seven feet tall and the Tiger Rogue was even taller. Everyone on the Ranger team had to look up at them. They looked as if nothing could bring them down. Luckily for Sebastien's nerves his attention was drawn away from them and to the shorter, but still taller than him, leader of the Rogues.

"So, you are the Rangers that Master Kalix is having such a hard time with?" Star Rogue spoke with malice. There was a moment of silence and then the Rogues began to laugh as if the Rangers were the funniest joke they had ever heard. "I say we have them beat within the week."

"I give them two days." Nova Rogue said.

"You're nicer than me. I give them maybe two hours." Scorpion spoke up.

"You're all talk." Hunter snapped, seriously irritated by the implication that they wouldn't' be a challenge.

Chaos erupted almost too fast for the Rangers to comprehend. Hunter's words seemed to spur the Rogues into action. Hunter barely got his staff up to block Tiger Rogue's claw-like weapons. Unfortunately the staff slotted snuggly between two of the blades and with a twist of his wrist Tiger Rogue tore the staff from Hunter's grasp. Hunter tried to back pedal away from his hulking foe, but Tiger was quicker than a man his size had the right to be. He backhanded Hunter with enough force to knock him tumbling backwards. Hunter lay on the ground where he landed feeling as if a steam roller had just crushed every bone in his body. Tiger Rogue hit like a jackhammer and Hunter had a feeling that had only been a minimal amount of power.

_This is going to be tougher than I thought._

ZzZzZ

"Oh my god." Kardan breathed in shock and awe.

Beside him Sizvu gasped. "It can't be."

"Craggan..."

"Kardan--."

"He's gone Rogue? How could he go Rogue?" Kardan continued, ignoring his friend.

"Kardan, that's not the same Craggan we used to know lad. You can't let who he used to be keep you from fighting him." Sizvu warned. "Besides, I always had a funny feelin' about the lad. Never quite right."

"We should go out there. He's our responsibility."

"Aye, just remember this isn't a reunion."

ZzZzZ

Cam ducked and rolled under Scorpion Rogue's fist, but was caught with a powerful kick to the back. He was knocked flat on his stomach and quickly got to his feet and spun with just enough time to block another kick. The force behind the kick made him stumble back slightly, but he was able to leap backwards as Scorpion's deadly tail struck at him. Cam winced at the sound the stinger made as it hit the ground. The impact would have speared him straight through his suit.

Tori couldn't believe her luck. She would have gladly taken Psycho Blue over the two female Rogues she was faced with. Both of them were equally as quick and agile as she was. They were obviously highly trained and worked flawlessly together as a team. They had the added advantage of being totally ruthless as they were willing to do anything just to hurt her.

Dustin felt completely overwhelmed by the emotions being so close to the Alpha Dragon Rogue dredged up. The memories of how Ja'lar had treated Akar were fresh in his mind. He could sense that the Dragon Dual-Sabers had been deeply connected with Akar and because of that Dustin felt a certain connection to the previous owner as well. Because of that he felt the intense need for retribution for what Akar had been put through.

"I smell dragon on you, but you're not a draconan." Alpha Dragon said.

Dustin didn't feel the need to reply. He felt the unusual urge to ruthlessly pound the Alpha Dragon Rogue into the ground. He pulled his Ninja Sword and lunged. Ja'lar used one saber to knock the sword aside and then used the other saber to slash Dustin across the chest. Sparks flew, but Dustin ignored the strike and spun quickly to fend off another swipe at his back. He wanted to avoid pulling his dual-sabers, but knew that he couldn't wait forever.

Only a few feet away Sebastien was struggling with the Warrior Rogue. The Rogue was silently beating him and nothing he did made a difference. He felt like he was fighting Gold and Silver rolled into one plus more power. Every hit felt like it was breaking bones and one swipe of Warrior's massive broad sword took Sebastien to the ground and he was very slow to get up.

Quick. That was the first word that popped into Blake's mind as he faced off with the Delta Dragon Rogue. Delta was quick. It reminded him of how quick a snake could strike. The next word that popped to mind was brutal. Delta struck like a hammer and each blow that landed to the chest knocked the breath out of him. He was having a problem catching his breath and that was making fighting more difficult.

In a flash of light Kardan and Sizvu appeared to face off with the last Rogue. It was their ex-teammate Craggan, now the Gold Battle Rogue. Despite seeing him on the screen nothing compared to seeing him in person. His broad frame was standing in the same nonchalant pose he had always taken when dealing with others. The only time he ever looked ruffled was when Harper was around.

"Craggan? What in the depths are you doin'?" Kardan demanded.

"What's it look like?" Craggan sneered. "I've found a winning team. A team that doesn't align themselves with filthy Basiacan scum."

"Harper never did anything wrong to you or anyone else." Sizvu replied. "If anyone is the monster it's you for turning your back on your team and your very soul."

"Don't give me that bullshit." Craggan snarled. "You drove me to this by siding with that alien freak."

"Did you forget that I was an alien to your planet too lad?" Sizvu demanded.

"Enran's didn't betray my people."

"You can't hold Harper responsible for the actions of his entire race." Kardan tried to reason. He was painfully aware that they probably couldn't bring Craggan back to their side, but he still had to try. "He's not like other Basiacans."

"But you wouldn't know that, would ya lad? You never gave him a chance." Sizvu added.

"Enough!" Craggan roared.

Kardan and Sizvu threw themselves to the side as Craggan's rocket launchers appeared and fired. The fire licked at Kardan's back as he quickly morphed. Sizvu rolled to his feet and morphed at the same time. He spun and brought his own rocket launchers into play, but Craggan easily avoided the rockets and the resulting explosions. Kardan lunged at Craggan from one side while Sizvu leapt at him from the other. Craggan pulled his Battle Sword and slashed Kardan while simultaneously kicking Sizvu square in the chest. Kardan stumbled back from the sword, but was able to jump a leg sweep. He was caught completely by surprise by a kick to the back.

"Switch!"

All the Rangers on the battlefield were stupefied as Rogues easily shifted around while they were still fighting and switched targets. That left the Rangers with the agonizing task of trying to adjust to a new opponent with new tactics. Some adjusted quick while a few faltered and struggled.

Hunter matched his new opponent, Delta Dragon, move for move. Delta was just seconds quicker than Hunter, but the Crimson Ranger was still quick enough to block. Delta didn't like that, not one bit. He wanted his enemies on the ropes, not fighting toe to toe with him. Hunter watched as Delta took a step back from the fight and then did something that had become surprisingly familiar. Delta summoned his dual-sabers just the way Dustin did. Delta assumed Hunter was going to be at a disadvantage having already lost his staff. The Rogue was not prepared for gauntlet that looked surprisingly like a tiger to appear on the Crimson Ranger's hand and was further surprised when blades swished out of the tiger's mouth. Still, Hunter only had one weapon granted it had three blades, but Delta was armed with twin sabers that still gave him a slight advantage.

Things just continued to get worse from there. The Rogues were a much different threat than the Psychos had been. Each one had a different power with different abilities and different fighting styles. Where the Psychos had always seemed to target the same ranger, the Rogues enjoyed mixing it up. Every few minutes one of them would call for a switch and the rangers would be forced to adjust all over again. But the Rogues seemed to be ready for each different fighting style the rangers employed.

With humiliating ease the Rogues tossed their opponents one by one until there was a pile of groaning rangers. Slowly the Rangers pulled themselves together and formed a line. They would continue to fight, but things were looking dire for them.

"Okay, who wants to play first?" Star asked.

"Me!" Several voices called at the same time, but one voice managed to boom over them all.

"Go ahead Scorpion. General Tarnin didn't say anything about not being able to kill them." Star said. "But I doubt you'll get a chance to feed."

"No matter." Scorpion boomed, stepping forward.

The line of Rangers tensed in preparation. Surely one Rogue alone couldn't take them all. Although, he was much bigger than any of the Rangers, but even giants could fall. They waited in tense silence as Scorpion strode forward as if he had nothing to worry about. His tail was held just behind his left shoulder, the barbed stinger dripping with venom. His whole body language screamed of arrogance, but he obviously had every reason to be arrogant.

"Alright Rangers, let's see what you've got." Scorpion taunted.

The Wind, Thunder, and Samurai Rangers were smart enough not to make a move. Their training taught them to let the enemy attack first. But the Ice Ranger had been taught differently. When not in stealth and ambush mode the Ice Ranger became very aggressive and for that reason he alone charged the massive Rogue. Sebastien ducked under Scorpion's fist and kicked the Rogue's side. Scorpion didn't even flinch at the hit and swung around to grab at the Ice Ranger. Sebastien ducked back and then sprung forward with a kick at Scorpion's knee. The blow landed and Scorpion grunted in pain, but it put Sebastien within striking distance. A brutal back handed punch floored the Ice Ranger and then Scorpion stepped down on his stomach and effectively pinned Sebastien to the ground.

Scorpion looked toward the Rangers who had yet to move. "Next?"

With their teammate in danger the rules of combat changed. Hunter and Blake charged first with Cam close behind them. The three Winds moved so that they were behind Scorpion, hoping for an advantage that way. Scorpion clotheslined the two Thunders then grabbed Cam under the arms and launched him over his head. The three Winds were taken by surprise and knocked to the ground by their teammate. Scorpion laughed and reached down to grab one Thunder Ranger in each hand and easily lifted them both up they their throats. He looked down at the pinned Ice Ranger and smirked, though it was hidden behind his helmet.

"You..." Scorpion trailed off. There was a funny tingling sensation in the foot pinning the Ice Ranger to the ground.

With a snarl Scorpion jerked his foot back and shook off the ice that had started to form on his boots. Sebastien rolled away and to his feet and faced Scorpion ready to fight. Scorpion had his hands full and wouldn't have much of a way to defend himself. Sebastien lunged with a kick, but was surprised to find a navy body flying at him. The impact caused both rangers to cry out and they hit the ground tumbling in a painful pile.

Hunter growled fiercely and sent a powerful charge of crimson lightning into Scorpion. The Rogue roared and threw Hunter into Sebastien and Blake as they struggled to get up. Scorpion instinctively spun and blocked Shane's Ninja Sword with the pincher-like blades on his hands. He kicked out at Tori and ducked Cam's kick. When Dustin attacked he stood his ground and grabbed the Yellow Wind Ranger with both hands. He lifted Dustin over his head and began bending the Ranger the wrong way intent on breaking Dustin's back.

"Dustin!"

Hunter scrambled to his feet and lunged at Scorpion in a blind rage. A bone cracking kick sent him flying back the way he had come. Dustin cried out in agony as his body bent further than it was ever meant to bend. His cries sent bolts of fury through his teammates and they all scrambled to help him. Scorpion twisted and turned and used his tail to knock away everyone until Shane was the last one standing.

"Let him go!" Shane demanded.

"Make me!" Scorpion taunted in return.

Shane snarled and lunged. Scorpion's tail whistled through the air with frightening speed and accuracy. Shane never had a chance. The stinger slid through his suit like it was paper and struck home just under his collarbone. Almost instantly a wave of dizziness flowed through him and his strength failed him. His legs gave out and he would have fallen if he hadn't been drawn into Scorpion's crushing arms.

"Shane!" Tori and Dustin cried out. They both moved to help their friend.

"Come any closer and I'll crush him." Scorpion warned, squeezing his prey for emphasis.

"Just crush him and get it over with!" Tiger shouted.

"I'm hungry." Scorpion replied.

Shane wanted to struggle, but he couldn't move his body. He was fully aware of what was happening around him, but it was as if he was just a spectator. His life was in the arms of a maniac and he couldn't do anything. Being helpless was not something he liked, especially when it put him at the mercy of a merciless Rogue.

Suddenly lasers rained down on the Rogues from above sending them scrambling for cover. Scorpion was struck on the back and released Shane. The ship blasted by overhead and then swung around for another pass. Tori and Dustin lunged forward and pulled Shane away from Scorpion as the ship fired on the Rogue once more. Scorpion was transported away seconds before the lasers could hit. The other Rogues were transported away seconds later.

"Shane, oh god..." Tori was trying desperately not to cry.

"He's still morphed. He's still alive." Dustin mumbled as he half tried to comfort Tori and half tried to comfort himself.

Hunter glanced up at the ship as it buzzed by overhead and watched as it zoomed off in the direction of the Battle Rangers' underwater cruiser. He thought he recognized the ship, but pushed the thought away. Shane was a much more pressing matter. He quickly scrambled to the Red Ranger's side and gently lifted him up. Shane made a soft sound of protest, but Hunter ignored it as he transported them both to the infirmary with Kardan right behind him.

Kardan used a special device to force Shane to demorph. Instantly he began working. Hunter stepped back when he saw the bloody wound on Shane's shoulder. The sight of blood itself didn't make him sick, but the blood coming from someone he cared about did. As soon as the rest of the team transported in he ushered them out of the infirmary with an insistence that they let Kardan work in peace.

Before they could get very far Niko and Zadan came running up, asking about Shane. No one had an answer. The group started to trudge toward the War Room to talk when the elevator from the flight deck opened. Two familiar men stepped out.

"Amias!" Niko lunged forward and pulled his friend into a hug.

Amias returned the hug with equal vigor. "Good to see you Niko-kan."

"What are you doing here?"

"We'll talk about that later." Amias said as they broke the embrace. "First off how is Shane?"

"We don't know anything yet." Niko replied, glancing at the group behind him.

"Wish we would have arrived just a little bit sooner." Harper spoke up, drawing attention to himself.

It was then that everyone realized he was cradling something in his arms. It didn't take much to see it wasn't human. Harper quickly explained to the Earth bound Rangers that it was a female Draconan. He explained how they found her and they all watched with curiosity as Cal'ias extracted herself from Harper's arms and flung herself at Dustin. Dustin barely got his arms up quick enough to catch her.

"You smell like dragon." Cal'ias said.

Dustin frowned as he remembered Alpha Dragon saying the exact same thing. Did having possession of the Dragon Dual-Sabers have some kind of effect on him? He hardly used them, but he supposed that the very first time he pulled them apart some kind of dragon energy had probably been imprinted on him. For obvious reasons the Draconans could smell it.

"Will you be my daddy?"

The question totally caught Dustin off guard and he stumbled for an answer. His mind shut down and all he could do was blink down into the little draconan's yellow-green eyes. The scene would have been funny if the situation wasn't so serious.

"Come on Cal'ias, Dustin is too young to be a daddy." Harper said, reaching out for the draconan.

Dustin could feel the little one's sadness and quickly spoke up. "But I'm the right age to a brother."

"Brother?" Cal'ias repeated with delight.

Amias and Harper shared a relieved smile before leading the way to the War Room. There was a lot to discuss and not a lot of time to do it. They could only hope that Shane would recover quickly, because they were going to need everyone in tiptop shape for what was coming.


	5. Darkness Rising

"So, basically what you're telling us is that you guys released an even bigger threat and she's heading here?" Hunter was clearly not pleased. "As if we didn't have enough to worry about."

"It's not like we did it on purpose." Amias snapped. "Besides, Cal'ias didn't know what she was reading."

"About her. How could one kid survive when an entire planet was killed?" Hunter shot a skeptical look at the little draconan nestled comfortably on Dustin's shoulder.

Harper gave him an annoyed look. "I understand you're upset about what's happened, but don't go taking it out on everyone else. Nothing that happened could have been prevented. For better or worse this has all happened for a reason."

Hunter frowned and opened his mouth to say more, but a disapproving look from Dustin kept him quiet. He was lucky Dustin had forgiven him for how he had treated Sebastien. For some reason or another Dustin was extremely protective of the younger boy and it had not been one of Hunter's better ideas to treat Sebastien so poorly. Now Hunter was careful not to upset Dustin again, he wasn't sure he'd be forgiven a second time.

"We've already faced one Holder before. It wasn't easy, but we beat Samous." Blake said.

"Yeah, but he was a new Holder. He was still trying to get used to his power when we faced him." Zadan said. "A more experienced Holder might be more powerful."

"No doubt about that." Harper said. "I've never felt anything so powerful before. It was oppressive."

"From what I glimpsed of her mind she was entombed there because no one could beat her. All they could do is imprison her and hope she never got free." Amias added.

"None of that is very encouraging." Hunter commented.

"We won't know what we're up against until she gets here." Cam spoke up. "Until then we'll just have to try and prepare ourselves."

"Until then, we've got the Rogues to worry about." Dustin added. "Plus there are still three Psycho Rangers."

"Those Rogues are serious trouble. I never thought I'd see anything worse than the Psychos." Blake said. His thoughts flew to Shane in the infirmary. "They thrashed us around like we were amateurs."

"Compared to some of them we are." Tori replied. "I hate to say it but we're in way over our heads."

"Plus Shane---."

"Is gonna be fine." Kardan interrupted Cam. The doctor moved into the War Room, exhaustion clear on his features. "Unfortunately, the damage done is serious. He's going to be out of commission for a long time. Scorpion Rogue's venom is merely meant to paralyze his victim. It'll take time to move out of his system."

"Not if we put him in the healing chamber." Niko spoke up. "He could be healed in half the time. It'll purge the venom from his body too."

"I don't like it." Kardan said. "The body should do it's own healing."

"We don't have time for that." Niko argued. "That Holder could be here within days."

"Fine, put him in your blasted healing chamber, but if I start seeing any ill effects from it I will dismantle the bloody thing myself."

ZzZzZ

Tarnin smiled, pleased with the Rogues' first battle with the Rangers. Injuring one of them so quickly was sure to have an emotional and psychological impact. The Rangers would think back on this battle every time they fought. The only thing that would make it better would be the Red Ranger not surviving, but he knew from experience how hard it was to kill a Ranger.

"Very impressive." Tarnin said as the Rogues assembled before him. He shot a look at the three Psychos who stood just behind the Rogues. "You could stand to learn a few things."

"Sir, we have seriously wounded the Rangers in the past. On one of our first battles Psycho Silver nearly killed the White Ranger." Psycho Green said. "What exactly are was supposed to learn, sir?"

"Perhaps that you limit yourselves too much by focusing on one Ranger." Tarnin replied.

"Sir, that would have been Master Kalix's doing sir. He trained us to focus on our own counterpart and no one else." Green said. "You would be questioning his judgement in training us."

"I think perhaps you're forgetting your place, Psycho Green." Tarnin motioned to Pogart.

Instantly agony flared through the Psycho Rangers as the nanites within their bodies began to attack their pain receptors. Everything hurt. From internal organs to a burning sensation across the entire expanse of skin there wasn't an inch of their bodies that didn't hurt. Psycho Silver collapsed first and as Psycho Gold moved to kneel beside him he collapsed as well. Psycho Green tried to hold on, but the pain was just too much and with a quiet moan he passed out as well.

"General Tarnin sir, why do you keep them around?" Star Rogue asked. "They're of no use to you."

"Oh, they're of more use than you think." Tarnin replied. "If those three ever fully understood the power they have at their disposal none of us would stand a chance."

"I find that hard to believe." Tiger Rogue said, glaring at the unconscious Psychos. "We can beat them with no problem."

"That's because they're not fully tapped into their power you fool." Tarnin snapped. "Now, take them to their rooms. Battle Rogue, I want to speak with you."

Battle Rogue watched the rest of his team gather the unconscious Psychos before turning his attention to General Tarnin. He stood calmly and fully confident he wasn't in trouble. He never did anything to displease his boss.

"You seem to have a real hatred for you ex-partner." Tarnin said.

Battle snarled softly. "He's Basiacan sir. I hate them all equally."

"Indeed, even so much as to betray your whole planet to Master Kalix." Tarnin eyed his warrior. "You want a chance at the Basiacan?"

"Yes sir. I would love a chance to finish that insect."

"I thought so." Tarnin motioned to Pogart and the flighty little lizard scrambled forward. "Pogart has developed a device that will force the Basiacan into his natural form, which will instantly force him out of morph as well. Go and challenge him. You shouldn't need your teammates for that."

"No sir." Battle said. "Sir, how far can I take it?"

"Kill him if you get the chance. No beating around the bush anymore." Tarnin said.

"With pleasure sir."

ZzZzZ

Stopping had not been a part of the Dohri's plan. She had intended to head straight for Earth. However, upon approaching a rather dark looking planet she had felt a familiar tingle. There was a trace of her own power radiating from the planet. That caught her attention and brought her to a stop. Still in light form she approached the planet curiously and at first found nothing of interest. Several dozen battleships orbited the planet with even more smaller fighter ships buzzing around. She approached closer, feeling that she should recognize the ships as well as the tingle in her spine.

She paused as a trio of fighter ships broke away from the armada and headed in her direction. She could sense them scanning her, trying to find out what she was. It was only when they were within striking distance that she finally recognized the ships and the beings within. It was her army, beings created specifically to obey her. They were still around and apparently still a force to be reckoned with. Without a thought she once more connected herself with the beings and felt their surprise and then joy as they too recognized her.

Instantly one of the ships darted forward and a beam of light swept over her. It was within her ability to let the transport beam simply flash through her, but she decided to humor them. They were excited to see her, completely beside themselves with joy. She allowed herself to be transported into the ship where she took her human form once more.

"Mistress Mikiha, it is of the utmost honor to have you with us once more." A smooth, crisp voice said over the speakers.

Mikiha smiled as the door into the transport room opened. "It is good to be back with you again, my Basiacan warriors."

ZzZzZ

Harper leaned back in his chair and shifted his eyes from one console to another. He was glad to be back on the familiar battleship, he just wished it could have been under better circumstances. Still, he was home for a little while and was happy to take a shift on the bridge as lookout. He was no computer/mechanical/technical genius like Sizvu, but he liked computers just the same. He had spent many hours of his youth playing virtual games and engrossing himself in the virtual battleground of Warrior World.

He was torn out of his memories as the communication console beeped. Without a thought he reached over and pushed the button to put it on the main screen. Instantly he was on his feet as he saw the all too familiar gold helmet staring back at him.

"Craggan!"

"Meet me at the beach." Battle demanded.

"Why should I?"

Battle glanced around as if making sure he wasn't going to be overheard. "I have something important to share with you."

"How can I trust you?"

"Meet me at the beach." Battle reiterated.

The screen went blank. Harper flopped back into the chair and continued to stare at the screen. He knew he shouldn't go. But it was the hope deep down inside him that Craggan might one day accept him that forced him to go. He wanted to go without telling anyone, but he knew his teammates wouldn't be happy about it. They wouldn't be happy about him going either. He pulled out his data pad and typed up a quick message before sending it to Kardan, Sizvu, and Amias.

_SilverHarper-Craggan has called me out. I'm going. Alone._

The response was immediate. His data pad beeped three times.

_BlueKardan-Don't you dare._

_BlackSizvu-It's a trap._

_RedAmias-He's never going to accept you Harper. Don't go._

Harper thought it was strange that his newest teammate was the one to sense one of his underlying reason to go. He knew all three would be mad at him for walking into an obvious trap. He did want to hear what Craggan had to say, but more than that he wanted revenge.

_SilverHarper-I'm going. I know it's a trap and I don't care. He's not going to accept me. But I am going to get him back for what he's done. This is personal and I want to handle it alone, but I wanted to tell you so that you guys could watch my back so it stays personal. Got it? I'm not taking no for an answer._

Harper didn't waste anymore time. He morphed and then used the coordinates Craggan had sent during their short conversation. He found the Gold Battle Rogue sitting on a rock waiting, but when he saw Harper he stood up. Harper kept his distance, watching intently for any sign of deception.

"What did you need to tell me Craggan?" Harper asked after there was a long silence.

"That...you're the same gullible fool you've always been." Craggan sneered.

Harper knew it was coming and did the only thing he could think of doing. His rocket launchers appeared at the same time as Craggan's and they fired in unison. Two of their rockets collided and exploded halfway between them. Harper's other rocket struck the ground right before Craggan showering the Gold Battle Rogue with sand. Craggan's rocket would have struck Harper if had hadn't leapt back. Still he was too close to the explosion and the force of it lifted him off his feet and flung him backwards. Both combatants were momentarily down.

They were only down a few seconds before both fighters were up again. Craggan fired another pair of rockets and Harper twisted and dodged them both, though the explosions were hot against his back. Harper pulled his Battle Sword and charged his ex-teammate. It was going to be a dangerous fight for them both. Having fought, somewhat, as a team they knew each other's fighting styles too well. But both of them had also been separated long enough to learn some new things as well. It appeared that it would be the one to have learned the most new moves that would win, except Craggan had a secret weapon.

The two ducked and twisted and parried looking for all the world like they were just sparring. They danced around each other with a familiarity that was clearly evident. But things swiftly changed. They both began throwing in new moves and they started landing hits. They were both sparking and making mistakes after a few minutes. Harper knew he needed to back off and collect himself. Judging Craggan's next swing he leapt over the attack and kicked his older opponent in the head. Craggan stumbled back and that gave Harper the chance he needed to back off and clear his head a bit.

"You can't beat me insect. I was trained to kill your kind." Craggan snarled.

"I can't believe you were ever a Ranger with blind hatred like that. How can't you see that I'm not like other Basiacans? I never take my natural form and hell, if I could I would become fully human." Harper said. "I know I can't change your mind, but I just have to ask you if it was worth it? Was it worth betraying our teammates and our home to satisfy your hatred?"

Craggan didn't reply at first. His mind flashed back to happier times. Joking around and laughing with Pydin. Sparring with Ekkan and Lorku. Teasing Maxoff, the youngest Battle Ranger by a month. He had cost them all their lives. Lives they had entrusted to him. Was it worth losing them all when his true goal hadn't been realized? No. No it hadn't been worth it. He should have just killed the insect in his sleep, not betrayed his whole planet to Kalix, but there was no going back. All he could do was correct the problem and finish Harper off once and for all.

Quicker than Harper could react Craggan pulled his blaster and fired several shots. Two were to the chest and the third to the helmet. Harper suit sparked furiously and he stumbled back. The sparking in his eyes blinded him momentarily and he never saw Craggan coming. He gave a yelp of shock as something jabbed into his ribs and he was lifted off his feet by the back of his neck. At first there was just a tingle in his ribs that spread slowly through his chest. Then all of a sudden agony surged through his body and he cried out as he was dropped to the ground. His feet gave out beneath him and he lay on the ground convulsing. As his body began to change he did the only thing he could think of, he pressed his distress signal and prayed.

The first thing to happen was he demorphed with a crackle of power. His body continued to convulse as changes came over it. His skin hardened and began to take on a golden color while an armor plated tail sprouted. His eyes grew bigger as his hair hardened into spines and his lips shifted into two mandibles that opened to the sides. His toes fussed until there were only two clawed toes and his fingers became claws. Then his back split open and two wings burst out and fluttered slightly before settling against his back. The convulsions continued for a moment longer before with one final jerk he grew still.

ZzZzZ

"What's that?" Dustin asked. Everyone was gathered on the bridge after the alarms blared.

Sizvu grimaced as he looked at the screen. He knew Harper wouldn't be happy about the Rangers of Earth seeing his Basiacan form. "That's Harper's true form and you'd do well not to mention it. He desperately hates what he is."

"I've heard it mentioned and I know it's a touchy subject, but why is being a Basiacan so bad?" Cam asked.

"Basiacans are ruthless, warmongering monsters. They'll eat anything they can kill, even each other in extreme circumstances. They have overwhelmed and decimated whole planets. They deceived our home world of Banar into believing they needed help and instead captured those sent to help them. They tortured those poor souls for information and then sent their mutilated bodies back to us." Sizvu explained. "Craggan's father and older brother were among them. He became an Exterminator, a branch of the military trained to hunt and kill Basiacans. When he became a Ranger he couldn't let those feelings go."

"That's why he went Rogue. His hatred of Basiacans corrupted him." Tori mused.

"We should have listened to Maxoff and Harper. The kids knew better than all of us." Sizvu said as he stared at the screen. "We pushed Craggan too far."

"Shouldn't we go help Harper?" Blake asked.

Sizvu shook his head. "Not yet. He might not need our help now."

ZzZzZ

Battle Rogue glared at the still form of his most hated enemy. The insect was completely still and he couldn't see if it was breathing anymore or not. He didn't care. If the beast was dead then it saved him the trouble of killing it himself, though he would have enjoyed that part.

Harper felt like his body was on fire. The forced transformation hurt worse than anything he had ever felt. The only parts of his body that didn't hurt were the internal organs that had already been where they were supposed to be. He didn't even want to open his eyes, but his enhanced senses told him that Craggan was approaching him. Harper's temper flared, brought to a whole new level by being in his natural form. Craggan was going to pay for this.

One moment Harper was on the ground and the next he was on his feet. Craggan gasped and leapt backwards in time to save himself from being speared by Harper's tail. The two faced off with obvious hatred burning through both of them. Harper let loose a blood-chilling screech and then lunged. Craggan dodged to the side, but Harper's spear-like tail followed and punched through his shoulder. Craggan roared with pained fury, but grabbed the tail with both hands, pulled it out, and then clenched his fist in an attempt to break it. Harper hissed fiercely and jerked his tail back, pulling Craggan off balance. With his tail free Harper turned and pounced on his ex-teammate. Craggan cried out as talons tore right through his suit and in his panic did the only thing he could think of doing. He fired his rockets point blank.

ZzZzZ

Sizvu swore as he watched his teammate go tumbling backwards. He wasn't sure if Harper's armored Basiacan body could have saved him from an explosion so close. He was sure that Craggan was hurt, the man had been demorphed by the shear power of the massive explosion so close. Both were laying on the ground completely motionless. Sizvu reached over and transported Harper directly to the infirmary, then turned and headed that way himself with Amias right behind him.

ZzZzZ

Sid peeked his head around the corner and into the infirmary as the Gold Battle Rogue returned from his fight. Things hadn't gone as well as expected and the Rogue was returning seriously wounded. Sid wanted to shove it in the whole Rogue team's face, but it wasn't in his best interest. Besides, Chris and Kyle had sent him on a strictly information gathering mission.

What he found inside made him smirk. All the Rogues were gathered along with General Tarnin. The new flagship doctor was not pleased. Sid could tell Dr. Walac was intensely irritated with so many people breathing down his neck while he tried to work. His skin clearly displayed his displeasure by being a vibrant red that clashed horribly with his green hair. Sid noticed a tint of gray around the tips of his ears, his nose, and his fingertips. The doctor was worried.

"He'll be lucky to make it, sir." Dr. Walac reported. "I need Dr. Hisik and the nurse staff from your cruiser if we're going to save him."

"Very well, I'll have them sent over immediately." Tarnin said.

Sid hurriedly scrambled away as General Tarnin turned to leave the room. He wanted to laugh gleefully, but knew the sound wouldn't be appreciated. He couldn't wait to share the news that one of the Rogues might die. One less Rogue to push them around.

ZzZzZ

"His armored body protected him amazingly well. A few bits of shrapnel punched through and had he been human he would be dead, but his heart is located in a different position." Kardan announced to the group waiting to hear about Harper. "He'll be feelin' it for a few days, but he'll survive."

"So it's the very thing that he hates that actually saved him." Hunter mused.

"That's irony for you." Dustin said.

"Aye, maybe it will go a little ways in helping him accept who he is." Kardan said.

Sizvu smiled sadly. "Not likely lad, it'll take a lot more than that."

"Let's hope it never comes to that."

ZzZzZ

General Tarnin watched as two doctors and a horde of nurses worked to save Craggan's life. He was furious. Furious that Craggan had been stupid enough to leave himself open, but even angrier that the Ranger had been able to take advantage of the opening. Now his Rogue might not survive and he knew he wasn't the only one angry about it. The other Rogues were practically thrumming with fury. They wanted revenge and they wanted it now. Tarnin knew it would be in his best interest to oblige them or the number of his foot soldiers would start dropping.

"Rogues. Go to Earth and teach these Rangers a lesson." General Tarnin ordered.

"With pleasure, sir." Star said. "We'll teach those Rangers not to mess with one of our own."

"Teach them not to mess with us period." Tarnin replied. "Don't return unless you've taken care of at least one Ranger, understand?"

"Yes sir!"

ZzZzZ

Cam groaned as the alarms came to life and he saw the Rogue team, minus Battle Rogue, obviously awaiting their arrival. He wondered how things would go without Shane there. Who would step up as leader? He thought maybe he would do it and while he knew he was qualified, he didn't feel comfortable with the idea. The choice was obvious, but would the right person speak up? He pushed the thought away and pressed the ship wide intercom button.

"We've got a Rogue problem."

There was a pause. Cam held his breath and waited. He wasn't disappointed. "All of them?"

"Battle Rogue is the only one missing Hunter." Cam replied.

There was another pause before the team's temporary leader spoke again. "Alright, Cam stay here and prepare to jump in when things go bad. Sebastien, get out there, plant yourself in a good position for a sneak attack. Amias, Niko, and Zadan, I'd like you out there with us."

"We're there." Zadan quickly replied.

"What about us lad? Sizvu and I want to help." Kardan's voice spoke up.

"Okay, you two get into good ambush positions as well and we'll use your rocket launchers." Hunter said. "We'll show these Rogues not to underestimate us."

Cam didn't like being left behind. He didn't like being on the front lines either, but the idea of waiting until things got bad to go help didn't sit well with him. Why should he have to sit back in the safety of the ship while his teammates threw themselves out there? He would have continued to brood except his data pad suddenly beeped, the pitch telling him it was a personal message. Pulling it out of his data pad he selected the message inbox and saw it was from Hunter.

_CrimsonHunter-I know you don't like it Cam, but we've got to try something different. If we all go out there at the same time it will be the same thing over again. We haven't been planning battles and we've been on the losing end for too long. Maybe we'll come out on top this time. Trust me?_

Cam knew he had only moments to reply before Hunter would be too busy to check it.

_SamuraiCam-Always_.

It hadn't been true at first. He hadn't trusted Hunter or Blake after they tried to kill his father, but they had long since made up for that. Through hard work and hard times they had earned his trust. If Hunter needed assurance of that he was more than willing to provide it. It wasn't an issue of trust anymore. Now it was an issue of leadership and how well Hunter was going to step up to the plate in Shane's absence. Things were looking good, he just hoped it didn't go bad.

ZzZzZ

There was no teasing or taunting when the Rangers showed up on the battlefield. The fight began before the last Ranger had even fully materialized. Nova Rogue's shotgun-like weapon cracked through the air. One laser bullet shattered into twenty laser pellets right before it connected with Tori's chest. The Blue Ranger was taken right off her feet and a well-placed Thunder Shield blocked the next shot. Tori said a quick thank you to Blake before all hell broke loose.

No one was faced with the same opponents they had fought previously. It was all so confusing and troubling, but the Rangers were learning to adapt quicker than before. The Rogues weren't switching around either. They seemed much more determined to injure the Rangers rather than just show them up like they had last time. This time they meant serious business.

Hunter and Blake were working together against the two female Rogues. There was equal give and take. It was almost like watching a dance, though this dance had a winner and a loser and the loser would be injured. Hunter swung Blake out of the way of a swipe from the axe and found the barrel of Nova's shotgun in his face. His only thought was to duck, but it was a second too late when he realized Blake was directly behind him. He heard Blake's shocked yelp of pain and swung his staff upwards as he stood up. It took Nova right off her feet and Hunter spun to cover his brother's back as the Green Stealth Rogue tried to take advantage of the injury.

Dustin was faced with Delta Dragon. He didn't get the same emotional response from Delta as he did when fighting Alpha Dragon, but he still felt a sense of betrayal from the dual-sabers. He couldn't focus on that though, not with Delta's swift and brutal attack. There were five limbs to try and keep track of and it wasn't easy. They never trained on dealing with tails. One particularly swift tail swipe caught him across the faceplate and nearly took him to the ground. He caught his balance with one hand on the ground and ducked and rolled as Delta tried to stab him with his dual-sabers. Dustin allowed himself to sink into the ground as he rolled and decided to take advantage of the fact that Delta wasn't prepared for a move like that. In a shower of dirt he burst out of the ground behind Delta and was caught with hammering kick to the chest. Not exactly how he had expected that to go.

Tori wasn't a sword fighter. She knew how to use her ninja sword with more skill than most people could manage, but she wasn't nearly as skilled as Star Rogue. He was more than ready for anything she tried to dish out. In fact, she got the distinct impression that he was simply toying with her. He wasn't really doing any damage to her, just making a show of blocking, ducking, and dodging all her pathetic attempts. If they continued to fight sword against sword she had no doubt he was going to win, but she didn't really have much of a choice. Her Sonic Fin had already been knocked from her hand and she didn't have the chance to find it.

Niko could sense the hopelessness of the current situation. He was fighting in a small triangle along with Zadan and Amias, but they had four opponents. They were fighting the two biggest Rogues along with two of the most skilled. They were holding their own, but not making any progress. They had to do all they could to avoid Scorpion's stinger while still trying to fight.

Sebastien watched from his hiding position in a tree not far from the trio's fight. He wasn't sure when Hunter actually wanted him to make a move. Was he supposed to wait until Cam made an appearance or was it the other way around? Plans only worked when everyone understood them. Since Hunter hadn't specified anything he decided he would make his move when the opportunity arose and it did much quicker than he had expected. Amias went down from a kick to the knee and Scorpion's tail was striking for a deadly blow. Sebastien pulled one of his throwing daggers and dropped from the tree right above Scorpion. With skilled ease he grabbed Scorpion's tail, pulled it to the ground, and jabbed the dagger through it. Scorpion howled with agony and rage and tried to jerk his tail free, but the dagger was firmly stuck in the ground.

"Nice of you to join the fun." Amias joked as Sebastien quickly helped him up.

Sebastien didn't get a chance to reply as the other three Rogues attacked with a vengeance. Tiger tried to get to Scorpion to free him, but without thinking of his own safety Sebastien threw himself in the huge Rogue's path. Tiger Rogue roared like his namesake and lunged at his smaller foe. Sebastien dodged to the side and swung his double-bladed sword in a stabbing motion. Tiger Rogue bellowed, spun on his heel, and backhanded Sebastien with enough force to nearly crack the White Ranger's helmet. Sebastien hit the ground in an unconscious heap. Tiger advanced on him, his tiger claw weapons ready to tear the Ice Ranger apart.

Kardan saw the Ice Ranger's peril from his position and frowned. In the cover of the trees getting a clear shot would be difficult. He and Sizvu were in a much better position to help the other Rangers, who were out in the open. He knew they hadn't been told to wait for a signal, but Kardan didn't want them to reveal themselves until the opportune moment. Unfortunately, he didn't think they were going to get the opportune moment. Sebastien was in trouble and he couldn't sit by and watch the kid get hurt again.

"Sizvu, you've got better aim than me. Think you can hit the Tiger Rogue?" Kardan asked.

"Aye, no problem." Sizvu replied.

Sizvu swung around to face his target and used his targeting reticule to lock onto Tiger Rogue's back. He waited for the Rogue to take one more step and then fired. The rocket blazed through the air and slipped easily in a narrow gap between trees. Tiger Rogue sensed the danger almost too late. He was able to take a step backwards and that saved his life. The rocket hit the ground mere inches from him and the explosion lifted him off his feet and tossed him into an unforgiving tree trunk.

Warrior and Alpha both paused in their attack as their teammate went down from an unseen attacker. They knew by the rocket that it was at least one of the Battle Rangers. Instead of continuing the fight they went to their teammate's side and found Tiger unconscious and badly hurt. Before they could realize what was about to happen two more rockets slammed into the ground beside them. The dual explosions rocked the area and they got another horrifying surprise as the tree they were beside collapsed on top of them.

More well aimed rockets began to rain down on the rest of the Rogue team who were out in the open field. Delta used his tail to smack a rocket away from himself and Nova managed to shoot one heading in her direction, but there were too many. The Rangers had separated themselves from the Rogues and were regrouping as they watched their enemies trying to dodge the almost continuous attacks. Finally Star seemed to have enough and with a promise that it wasn't over with the Rogue team transported away taking their wounded with them. The battle was over and for the first time the Rangers had a decisive victory.


	6. More Allies

"Not so easy to beat are they?" Kyle sneered at the defeated Rogues as they trudged to check on their injured teammates.

"Yeah, Kalix said we were supposed to learn something from you guys, but all I see is the same mess we went through." Chris continued.

A demorphed Star Rogue glowered at the two. "Back off assholes. We're not in the mood."

"Just remember your two biggest threats are out of commission." Kyle snarled. He stood a few inches taller than Star and that was enough.

"We still outnumber you." Nova reminded them.

Sid and Chris grinned at each other while Kyle smirked. "That was never your advantage over us."

"We're not scared of you." Stealth Rogue growled. She made eye contact with Sid and felt satisfied as the Silver Psycho shrank back a little.

"Get out of the way." Star demanded.

Kyle crossed his arms over his chest and glowered. "Make me."

"Just remember you asked for it."

The two sides tensed to attack when a new voice cracked the air. "What's the meaning of this?" Everyone present turned and then tried to straighten themselves as Tarnin's second in command stalked up to them. "Who started this?"

"They did." Both teams said pointing at each other.

"They purposefully put themselves in our way, ma'am." Star clarified.

"Not true, we were walking down the hall when they stopped us." Kyle argued.

"Liar!"

"You're just trying to get us in trouble as usual!"

"Enough!" Nassa roared. "I'm going to report this to General Tarnin. For now he wants you all back down on Earth. Make up for this loss."

"Yes ma'am." The two teams replied in unison and then glared at each other.

"This isn't over with." Star promised.

"Far from it." Kyle agreed.

With that the two teams morphed and transported.

ZzZzZ

"They're both going to have headaches for a few days, but nothing major." Kardan announced after checking Sebastien and Blake. Both rangers were sleeping fitfully as their teammates worried over them. "The upgrades to the suits Sizvu did saved their lives."

Hunter and Tori both let out relieved sighs at the same time. The two grinned at each other. They both worried about Blake, but Hunter was also worried about his new little buddy. He and Sebastien had steadily been getting closer once Hunter realized he really didn't have a reason to be angry with the younger boy. He had actually begun to learn a little bit about Sebastien, like the fact that he had four older brothers whom his parents had practically disowned for abandoning the academy. He realized that there was a lot of pain Sebastien was trying to hide, but he and Dustin were working on that.

"Ugh, I think a gorath stepped on me."

All attention shifted to the third occupied bed. Kardan grinned and went to his teammate's side. "How do ya feel lad?"

"Like a damn gorath rampaged over me, turned around, came back and gored me." Harper replied. He then realized that he was in his natural form. With a wide-eyed look of shock he shifted to his human form as quick as he could. "What happened?"

"You mean you don't remember?" Amias asked.

"I remember going out to meet Craggan and then him attacking me." Harper answered. He furrowed his brows as flashes of memories came to him. "I...I remember being zapped with something."

Kardan and Sizvu shared a look. "He had a device that forced you into your basiacan form. You two fought and you ended up pinning him to the ground."

"He shot you point blank with his rocket launchers." Sizvu continued.

"Had it not been for your heavily armored Basiacan body and the fact that your heart is in a different position than humans you would be dead." Kardan concluded. "Your Basiacan form saved you."

"Bout time it did some good." Harper grumbled. He glanced around the infirmary and saw Sebastien and Blake were in beds as well. "What happened to them."

"We had to go face the Rogues. Tiger knocked Sebastien out and Blake was shot almost point blank. Thankfully, Sizvu's armor upgrades saved both t their lives." Kardan explained.

"The really good news is that there should be at least four Rogues out of the way for a while." Dustin piped up. He was sitting by Sebastien's bed watching over his young charge.

"There's still the three Psycho Rangers." Niko spoke up. "You can't forget them."

"They hardly seem like a threat now with the Rogues around."

Kardan groaned. "Lad, you're going to learn the hard way not to say things like that."

As if that was some kind of demented cue the alarms suddenly blared followed closely by Cam's voice. "We've got Rogues and Psychos calling us out."

Hunter hesitated, glancing over at Shane. He knew he had led the team to their first decisive victory, but it didn't feel right. He had been content to give Shane the role of leadership over the past few months. He didn't really want to take the Red Ranger's place, but someone had to do it. He was sure Cam probably could have stepped up and taken the position, but he was better suited for the role.

"Hunter?" Dustin's voice called his attention back to reality.

Hunter stepped over to the intercom. "How many are there Cam?"

"Seven."

"Okay, Cam we're gonna need you this time." Hunter said. He turned to look at the rest of the room. "We're gonna need three more to even the odds."

"We'll go." Zadan replied instantly. Everyone knew without question that he meant Niko and Amias too.

"We'll be ready to back you up if you need it." Kardan said, motioning to Sizvu too.

Hunter nodded in acceptance. None of them took the time for fancy morphing calls. At Hunter's signal those going into battle morphed and then as one they transported away. They were under attack as soon as they arrived. They were systematically separated so that they couldn't help each other and they quickly realized that the Rogues had a new strategy. The Rangers quickly found themselves facing off with the Rogue or Psycho they had the most difficulty with.

Cam and Psycho Green were fighting as furiously as ever. Green needed to prove that he was worth keeping around, while Cam just fought to stay alive. After his realization that Green had been a student at the Wind Ninja Academy, Cam found that predicting his opponents moves were much easier. He knew the fighting style inside and out, but Psycho Green had also been influenced by other fighting styles and that meant he could still keep Cam just off balance enough to be a threat.

The Green Stealth Rogue was definitely a different opponent than Psycho Blue. Tori was relieved that the Rogue didn't seem to rely on her weapon as much as Psycho Blue had. It was pretty much straight forward combat, which was much easier to deal with. They were both equally swift and both fighting styles were fluid. It actually seemed like they were a little more evenly matched than either first thought. So, Stealth decided to change that.

"Wanna see something cool?" Stealth asked. She didn't expect an answer and didn't even give Tori a chance.

Tori gasped as Stealth's suit shimmered as if it were water rippling in a lake. Then to her horror Stealth disappeared completely. There was mocking laughter from her opponent, but it seemed to come from all around her. Tori cried out in surprise as she was kicked square in the back. She let the momentum carry her into a roll and then back up to her feet, but as soon as she was standing a powerful uppercut landed her flat on her back. She didn't know which way to roll, but she knew an attack would be coming and rolled to the left. She saw dirt fly from where she had just been and decided she needed to do something or she was going to be in deep trouble. So, she did the first thing she could think of doing.

"Ninja ropes."

The blue colored rope looped around Stealth's foot, instantly giving away her position. Tori sprang to her feet and attacked before the Rogue could undo it. Stealth seemed taken off guard by it and was overwhelmed by Tori's swift attack.

Dustin wished he would stop getting paired with one of the Dragon Rogues. He was glad it wasn't Alpha Dragon, but Delta Dragon wasn't much better. Not only were they deadly warriors, but his connection to the dual-sabers threw him off with feelings of betrayal and hatred. That was mildly distracting, which in regular life would have been easy to ignore, but while fighting for his life it became a very dangerous thing. Delta wasn't playing around. Delta had his dual-sabers out and using them with enough efficiency to make his ninja sword practically useless. There was only one thing he could do to keep up. Dustin summoned his dual-sabers. As soon as they mighty weapon appeared in his hands Delta backed off and Dustin could almost see the surprised expression on the draconan's face.

"How did you get dual-sabers?" Delta demanded.

"I don't think that's the issue at hand." Dustin replied with a seriousness that spoke volumes of how much the war was changing him.

Delta was silent for a moment as his hands tightened around his own sabers. When he next spoke he sounded like he had just made the discovery of the century. "That's Akar's dual-sabers."

"How did you know?" Dustin asked, genuinely curious.

"I can sense his weakness." Delta sneered. He apparently had gotten over the shock. "The question now is how well can you use those? Did you know we trained day and night with the dual-sabers for nearly three days? You can't possibly hope to beat my experience. Plus, Akar's weakness is already starting to infect you. I can smell it."

Dustin growled as feelings of anger intensified from the dual-sabers. He didn't respond to Delta's taunting. He didn't immediately pull the sabers apart and instead used it as a staff. He knocked both Delta's sabers to the side and slammed the hilt into the Rogue's ribs and then spun low for a leg sweep. Delta jumped as expected and Dustin sprang back up, pulling the sabers apart, and swept them upwards. Delta's suited erupted with sparks and the force of the attack knocked him even higher in the air. He landed on the ground a few feet away with a dull thump and didn't immediately get up.

The momentum of the battle seemed to shift in the Rangers' favor. The Rogues seemed distracted and the rhythm they had seemed to have previously was all gone. It was if by missing so many of their teammates they couldn't function anymore.

On the other hand, the Psychos had no such problems. Niko, Zadan, and Cam were struggling against their foes. Cam couldn't seem to gain any ground. Psycho Silver and Psycho Gold seemed to be trying to send a message to the two traitors. They were fighting circles around them with brutal efficiency. Still, they were the only three doing any real damage to the Rangers, a fact that did not sit well with one person watching the battle.

ZzZzZ

"What is happening down there?" Tarnin exclaimed. "The Rogues are supposed to be superior to the Psycho Rangers and yet the Psychos are the only ones with the upper hand."

"Sir, the weakness is not in the Rogues skill, but their dependence on each other." Nassa replied.

"They don't depend on each other. They can all fight spectacularly well individually." Tarnin said, watching the battle with annoyance.

"They are not used to being pinned to a specific opponent." Nassa commented. "They are also not used to being without so many of their teammates and more than that they have reason to worry about those same teammates. It is an obstacle we did not cover in training."

"It's amazing how they willingly and joyfully betrayed their original teammates only to bond so closely with a new set."

"Some aspects of being a Ranger cannot be lost."

Tarnin frowned. It seemed his Rogues had a fatal flaw he was going to need to address. In the mean time there was the issue of the battle at hand that needed to be dealt with.

"Nassa, send a platoon of Aeroi and the Knights of Destruction to spice things up." Tarnin ordered. "At least one Ranger will not be walking away from this battle unharmed."

ZzZzZ

Amias ducked and spun away from Star Rogue only to be met by a vicious kick to the face. He was knocked onto his back and instantly rolled as a big armored foot came down on the spot he had been. It was a terrifying shock to find himself suddenly facing another opponent. Two on one was not good odds.

He kept rolling as his enemies kept trying to stomp on him. He knew he would only be able to evade them for so long like that. With a grunt he got one arm under him and as he rolled he forced his body to swivel, effectively leg sweeping both his opponents. That gave him the opportunity he needed to get to his feet, but that left him momentarily vulnerable and he had no chance to duck, dodge or block the chakram that suddenly connected with his faceplate with devastating power. White light exploded in his vision and by the time it cleared it was already too late. Both Star and Nyus were on their feet and on the attack before he could properly defend himself. They kept him off balance and unable to keep up with their rapid attacks.

"One Ranger going down." Nyus cackled. He kicked Amias in the face and then jumped to the side.

Star cupped his wrists together and concentrated on his internal power, summoning a large portion of it. White hot energy crackled between his hand and formed into an impressive ball. He then pulled hi s hands back to one side and then thrust them forward.

"Star burst!"

Amias never had a chance. The energy connected directly with his chest and spread like it was liquid. His suit sparked and crackled as the white-hot energy seared over his body. He screamed in agony, the pain unbearable. He felt like he was being cooked in an oven with no way of escaping and the energy wasn't fading. It continued a torturous attack on his body right up until the moment his morph shattered away leaving him vulnerable.

The battle shifted in favor of the Rogues and Psychos the moment the foot soldiers arrived. The Rangers were not ready for the four-armed massive warriors who were all armed with four different weapons. It was a challenge they had yet to face. Even the arrival of Kardan and Sizvu to battlefield didn't help. They were outnumbered and outmatched.

The situation was looking desperate. The Rangers couldn't seem to make a comeback from the new turn of events. Amias had been transported from the battle and was followed swiftly by Sizvu who suffered a mace shot to the head. Not even Hunter using his Tiger Gauntlet could turn the tide as a shot to the face from Nova's shotgun took him out of the fight. Niko went down with a busted knee and Zadan struggled to protect him as no one had the time to transport him away. Things were looking dire.

Suddenly searing energy crackled through the air and blasted half the foot soldiers off their feet. Another searing bolt took the other half down. The battle came to a stand still as everyone's attention focused on the source of the energy. By that time no one should have been surprised at seeing two unfamiliar Rangers, but they were still shocked. One silver ranger and one black ranger stood just outside the fight. The black ranger had a hand extended and energy was still crackling around the gloved hand. The silver ranger stood with arms crossed and probably glaring.

"By the gods." Nyus swore. "What hole did you crawl out of? I thought all the Knight Rangers were killed by the Shadow Rogue."

"He missed one." The silver ranger replied. His voice was strangely familiar to the Rangers who watched the happenings with wide eyes. "Now, am I to assume that you killed my brother, Nyus? You better hope not for your sake."

"Unfortunately, I can't claim that honor Knight Ranger." Nyus sneered.

"He had a hand in it." Zadan said.

"Oh? And I suppose the rest of the Knights of Destruction helped?" The Knight Ranger mused. "I don't expect my brother went down without a fight."

"Point is he went down." Mesaus sneered.

Psycho Silver listened as the Knights of Destruction and the new Knight Ranger continued to lob insults back and forth. All the attention was off him and that gave him the perfect opportunity. With all hand blades extended he lunged for an unprotected target. All four blades slid home right into Niko's back. The movement and Niko's cry of pain and surprise drew all attention to them. Silver leapt backwards as Zadan turned to attack. Zadan instantly transported Niko away as the new black ranger on the field blasted Silver off his feet.

"I think that's enough damage for today." Star Rogue announced. "Have a nice day."

With that all the Rogues and Psychos transported away. The Knight Ranger moved to stop the Knights of Destruction, but they transported away as well. Zadan didn't stick around and immediately transported away. Kardan followed because he knew there were casualties that needed tending. Everyone else collected themselves and moved a little closer to the newcomers.

"I know you've got questions." The Knight Ranger said before anyone could speak. "But this isn't the best place. We can talk on my ship."

"I think we prefer ours." Cam replied.

"Fine with us." The Knight Ranger agreed.

Together all of the Rangers transported away.

ZzZzZ

"Two more Rangers?" Tarnin's cool composure was shattered. He was furious. "I've had enough of those rangers popping up out of nowhere. They're worse than erasan rats!"

"At least four rangers didn't walk away." Nassa mused. "And none of our forces were seriously injured this time around."

"Indeed." Tarnin agreed, calming down.

"Perhaps you should reward Psycho Silver for his use of the distraction to injure the traitor." Nassa suggested.

"Good idea and I know just what to do."

ZzZzZ

Everyone was gathered in the War Room as the two new Rangers stood in front of the room. Neither of them had demorphed yet, but no one felt threatened. There was silence for just a few minutes before the Knight Ranger finally spoke up.

"I want to know how he died. How did my brother die and who killed him?"

"Wait a minute, we're still not clear on exactly who you are." Zadan said.

The Knight Ranger sighed with annoyance and in a flash demorphed. Suddenly the room was faced with the spitting image of Kale. The same hair, the same expressive purple eyes, all of it was the same. The only distinguishing feature was the deep scar on the right side of his face from the corner of his mouth to his ear. There was a different gleam in his eyes than Kale's ever held-darker and angrier.

"My name is Zac and Kale was my twin brother." The Knight Ranger said. "Now, I want answers."

"He died fighting bravely against overwhelming odds." Zadan replied.

Zac frowned. "Against who?"

"First it was the three Knights of Destruction. Then four of the Psycho Rangers attacked." Zadan continued to explain. "They were too much. As far as I can tell he purposefully self-destructed and took out the Purple Psycho Ranger."

Zac's eyes filled with sadness as he thought of his twin being up against such odds all by himself. He felt guilty because he should have been right there beside Kale. He should have died with him.

"Zac." The black ranger beside him said softly. "You can't blame yourself."

"I should have..." He trailed off as he decided not to continue that train of thought in front of everyone. He shoved his feelings behind a thick wall and straightened himself out. "Did he die alone?"

"No, we brought him back here before he died." Zadan replied. "He died with friends."

"Then, I thank you all for doing what I should have been there to do." Zac said. "You helped ease my brother's passing and for that I'm grateful. I'll help you as much as I can. If Kale saw fit to give his life for you, then you have mine as well."

"We promise to do all we can to help you avenge his death." Zadan replied with firm conviction. He glanced at the still morphed black ranger. "Is your friend going to introduce himself?"

Zac turned to his partner and nudged him gently. "Don't be shy kid, they're rangers like you and me."

"I'm perfectly capable of seeing that." The black ranger replied.

"They're not going to bite you."

"I bite back."

"Kid, don't make me hurt you." Zac said. "It's not polite they demorphed in front of you now you have to do the same. Trust is important for teammates."

"They're not my teammates."

"Just demorph and introduce yourself before I take the power back."

The black ranger hesitated, glancing quickly at Zac. It was the first time the rangers saw him smile as he tried to comfort his partner. The black ranger finally seemed to agree. The room watched as his the suit just seemed to melt into his skin. What was revealed was a young man with close cut dark purple, almost black, hair and the same glowing green-yellow eyes as Sizvu.

"My name is Oakii, I'm the Black Bio-tech Ranger."

"You're an Enran." Zadan said, a smile forming on his face. "There's another Enran on the ship too by the name of Sizvu."

"See kid, nothing to be afraid of." Zac said, slapping his companions back. He then grew serious as he moved to sit down. "Now, I need to know everything you know. Start from the beginning."


	7. Thin Ice

AN: Sorry about the long wait. I got distracted into other fandoms, but I swear I'm going to do my best to finish this series.

ZzZzZ

There was a happy reunion the moment Shane returned to the ship. There was a blue, yellow, and red pile on the ground as his two best friends tackled him. Shane couldn't find it in his heart to push them away, so they stayed on the ground for several minutes. Finally Dustin pulled away first and pushed to his feet. Tori followed his lead and the two helped the red ranger up. He grinned at them with sparkling eyes.

"Gee, did you guys miss me or something?" He teased.

"Not a bit. Less training." Tori joked.

"I see how it is." Shane said, lightly shoving his blue friend. "I'm asleep for a few days and you guys think you can just slack off."

"While the leader is a way the lackeys will play."

Shane and Tori both cracked up at Dustin's words. The trio moved down the hall, laughing and joking around. Their good mood seemed to effect the whole ship. Shane was introduced to the two newcomers and then ushered down to the infirmary where he was greeted warmly by everyone, except a sleeping Hunter. Although Shane's good mood was dampened when he saw Amias and Niko severely injured.

"What happened?" Shane asked.

"Psycho Silver happened to Niko. Star Rogue and Nyus happened to Amias." Dustin answered simply.

"Hey, on a positive note we actually won a battle that sent the bad guys packing." Blake spoke up.

"Not that you were awake for the end of it." Tori said, poking him in the side. She then returned her attention to Shane. "Hunter did a good job in your place."

"That's good. At least I know if something happens to me the team will be in good hands." Shane said with a smile toward his sleeping teammate.

"Let's hope it never comes to that."

ZzZzZ

Psycho Gold and Psycho Silver glanced nervously at each other as they stood before General Tarnin. It usually wasn't a good thing to be called before the boss. It usually meant they had done something wrong, but they couldn't think of what. Silver thought he had been doing pretty good, especially since he seriously wounded the navy traitor.

"I imagine you two think you're in trouble." Tarnin said with a cold voice and straight face. He eyed the two morphed Psychos for a moment before a smile broke his face. "You're not in trouble boys, in fact I plan on rewarding you two. You've done such a good job of injuring the enemy, maybe even killing this time, that I feel you deserve a reward of some sort."

"Can we choose?" Silver asked eagerly.

"No, I've got two things for you that I think you could use to your advantage." Tarnin said. He held up a shield generator and a syringe. "We don't go using these lightly, so take advantage of this gift. I think you know what to do with it."

The two Psychos didn't need to see each other to know they were both grinning. Silver took the shield generator eagerly while Gold took the syringe "What's in here?"

"A truth serum." Tarnin said. "He won't have a choice but to answer truthfully to everything you ask him and I have a feeling there are a few things he's hiding from his teammates."

"Oh yeah, this'll be fun." Silver snickered. "Now all we need to do is lure him out."

"Oh I think that'll be easy enough." Tarnin said. "Just make sure you do some real damage."

"Is dead good enough?"

"Sure, but make sure he suffers first. Wouldn't want any Ranger having a quick and easy death. Pain is a must."

Gold grinned. "Oh don't worry sir, there'll be plenty of pain."

ZzZzZ

Sebastien ducked and twisted away as Cam came at him with a flurry of kicks. Cam kept his balance despite his misses and was equally prepared for Sebastien's aggressive response. The two danced around each other looking for an opening to take advantage of and gain the upper hand. Cam was impressed with Sebastien's skill, but could tell the kid still had a lot to learn. He waited patiently as Sebastien got tired of waiting and attacked. Sebastien committed himself to a roundhouse kick, which was his undoing. Cam dropped under the attack and swept Sebastien's leg out from under him. Sebastien hit the mats hard and gasped when he found a foot only an inch from his face.

"Cameron wins." Sensei announced.

Cam smiled and reached a hand out to Sebastien. The white clad ninja accepted the hand up and they bowed to one another. Both then turned to Sensei and bowed to him as well.

"Sebastien. Do you know where you went wrong?" Sensei asked.

Sebastien sighed. "I committed myself to an attack too early."

"Your style is aggressive, that is the way of the Ice Ninja, but you must also use that aggression wisely." The guinea pig explained. "What would you have done differently?"

"Attack with some basic moves and not commit too soon."

"I--."

Sensei was cut off as the alarms shrieked to life. The two Rangers sighed in exasperation as they instantly turned and headed out of the training room. As they did Harper's voice broke over the intercom.

"Knights of Destruction and about a dozen foot soldiers are in Los Angeles and the Psychos and some more foot soldiers are in Blue Bay Harbor." He quickly added. "Zac and Oakii are taking on the Knights, but they're outnumbered."

Cam pulled his data pad as it buzzed. Apparently Shane was going to start using them to hand out orders. Cam thought it was probably more effective anyway.

RedShane-Tori and Dustin are with me against the Knights. Cam, Blake, and Sebastien will tackle the Psychos. Anyone else is welcome to jump in if they feel the need.

BlueKardan-Lad, Hunter is awake and wants to fight.

RedShane-Is he fit for duty.

BlueKardan-Aye, nothin' wrong with him now.

RedShane-Alright, Hunter is with his brother then. Everyone be careful.

Cam put his data pad away and glanced at Sebastien. He could see his teammate wasn't thrilled with the idea of facing his tormentors again, but there was no hesitation on Sebastien's part. They both morphed at the same time and transported to the coordinates Harper sent them. When they got there Blake and Hunter were beside them. There was no time for discussion about who would fight who before the enemy attacked. Instantly the massive amounts of foot soldiers nearly mauled Hunter and Blake as Psycho Green went straight for Cam. Sebastien didn't glance at his teammates and didn't realize that someone wasn't beside him to help deal with his two enemies.

Hunter used his staff to block and parry the multitude of weapons flying at him. Everywhere he turned there was another four-armed enemy swinging some kind of weapon at him. He couldn't gain the upper hand, but he did all he could to simply hold them back. It wasn't much but it was enough to keep him alive.

Likewise Blake was struggling to defend himself from the onslaught. He was twisting and turning as he continuously blocked and never attacked. He couldn't even begin to look for an opening and there might as well have not been one. His only real chance lay in getting them all in front of him, but there were too many and they kept trying to attack him from behind. Defense was his only weapon.

Cam and Psycho Green were fighting with the usual amount of intensity. Both had their weapons pulled and facing two sabers compared to his one no longer bothered Cam. His one saber meant he could be quicker and gave him less weight to swing around. He wouldn't tire as quickly as Green and that would ultimately give him the advantage. That was assuming he could keep the fight going long enough to gain that advantage.

Sebastien was struggling against his two opponents. Silver and Gold could work flawlessly together to keep him completely off balance. He was so busy trying to defend himself that he never realized he was being led away from his teammates. A kick to his chest made him stumble back and that was when he struck the shield. The energy seared his back and he instantly pulled himself away only to be kicked into it again. His heart leapt into his throat when he realized he was trapped in a shield with the two most deadly Psychos of all. In a desperate move he threw up an ice wall that stretched from one side of the shield to the other trapping his opponents on the other side.

"Haven't you realized yet that your ice tricks don't work?" Silver called.

Sebastien pulled both of his kamas and took a deep breath. As soon as the ice wall shattered he threw himself aggressively right at Psycho Silver. Silver hooked his hand blades under the curve of the blades and yanked Sebastien up and over his head. Sebastien turned midair and landed on his feet only to receive a brutal kick to the chest that once more knocked him backwards into the shield. He jerked away from the shield and ducked and rolled under the next kick, but with two opponents that just left him open. A harsh kick landed to his side before he could get to his feet and he was sprawled on the ground.

Cam blinked in surprise as Psycho Green suddenly just transported away. Likewise Blake and Hunter were both bewildered by the sudden disappearance of their attackers. The three rangers regrouped and instantly noticed that Sebastien wasn't with them. They all looked around for their teammate and were horrified when they found him facing not one Psycho but two and a shimmering shield was keeping them from helping. Without a thought the three Rangers instantly attacked the shield, but their weapons and attacks had no effect.

"Our successes in the past few battles have earned us a reward." Psycho Gold said, his distorted voice filled with evil. "Do you know what that reward is?"

"Don't care." Sebastien snarled as he got back up and into a fighting stance.

"We get the pleasure of torturing and then killing you while making your teammates watch helplessly." Psycho Silver answered his partner's question. "And the whole time we're doing it we're going to make you spill your darkest secrets."

Sebastien didn't have a chance as the two Psychos rushed him. He struck out at them only to have Psycho Gold grab his arm and pull him completely off balance. Psycho Silver kicked both his feet out from under him and then both Psychos pinned him to the ground on his stomach. He struggled and kicked, but they were too strong. Psycho Gold pulled the syringe and then plunged it into Sebastien's neck, the super tough needle easily piercing the suit. Sebastien cried out and bucked as the liquid was forced into his body. The two Psychos released him and backed away as he slowly pushed himself up.

Hunter slammed his shoulder against the shield as if he expected it to actually do anything, but all he got was a searing shock for his efforts. His crimson lightning didn't even make the shield flicker. The shots from his crimson blaster simply bounced off. Not even a shot from the Thunder Blaster could do any damage. All they could do was watch.

As he ducked and dodged away from both Psychos he suddenly came to a revelation that shocked him to the core. "You two are Ice Ninjas!"

"Damn." Silver hissed, then glared at his snickering partner. "I don't care if you won the bet I'm not doing it."

"Oh yes you will." Gold snapped. "You'll really regret it if you don't."

"Damnit!" Silver turned his attention back to Sebastien. "I really didn't think you would figure it out before we killed you. You're a little smarter than I thought, but not by much."

"How could you betray your Academy?" Sebastien demanded.

"The same reason Psycho Green and Psycho Teal did. Power." Silver replied. "Kalix offered us power and we took it."

"Now, let me ask you a question. What's your full name?" Gold asked. He was testing to see if the serum had taken effect you.

"Sebastien Reece."

Gold grinned. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen." Sebastien felt his stomach clench. He had no control anymore. He had to answer every question and he had to answer it honestly. The idea of lying gave him a brutal headache. He had a feeling things were about to get much worse for him.

Outside the shield Cam was using his data pad to describe the situation to everyone. Sizvu replied that they would scan the shield and try and find a frequency to cut through it. Within moments the three Winds transported in and along with the Thunders they tried the Thunderstorm Cannon, but to no avail. The shield wasn't going anywhere.

Back inside the shield Gold asked the question Sebastien desperately didn't want to answer. "Why weren't you captured the rest of your Academy?"

"I wasn't there." Sebastien replied instantly.

"Why not?"

"I didn't want to do the night stealth classes."

The two Psychos seemed momentarily pleased and launched a surprise attack. Sebastien didn't even get a chance to defend himself. Twin blows to the chest knocked the breath out of him and an uppercut took him off his feet. A foot stomped on his chest and the ribs that had just previously healed cracked all over again. Another foot stepped down on his wrist and pinned it to the ground. He didn't even try to use ice because without the proper surprise it was just no use against another Ice Ninja.

"Where were you instead of at the Academy that night?" Silver asked.

Sebastien bit his lip hard, trying not to say anything. Gold stepped down hard on his wrist and Sebastien cried out. It was enough for his rebellious mouth to answer the question.

"At a party."

The Rangers on the outside of the shield watched and listened tensely. It wasn't how they wanted to learn the truth, but they couldn't ignore it.

Silver exchanged a hidden grin with his partner. They were both enjoying tormenting their nemesis. "Why would a student like yourself be at a party instead of your classes."

"I was rebelling." Sebastien answered. Internally he was screaming out. He knew they were going to get around to the one question he didn't want to answer. He felt completely helpless and would have much rather have been tortured instead.

"Against?" Gold prompted.

"My parents."

The two Psychos simultaneously attacked again. They kicked his sides a few times before yanking him up. Gold slashed him twice across the chest with his sickles before Silver kicked Sebastien straight in the face. Sebastien stumbled back and slammed into the shield right in front of his teammates. He wanted to beg them not to listen, but he was kicked so hard in the ribs that he momentarily blacked out. When he came to he was on the ground on his stomach and someone was stepping down on his back holding him there. He stayed still and prayed they wouldn't realize he was awake yet. No such luck as his tormentors heard the change in his breathing pattern and knew he was awake.

"So Sebastien, why were you rebelling against your parents." Gold asked with a note of fake pleasantness.

"Because of how they treated my brothers." Sebastien didn't mind revealing that. It wasn't a secret to his teammates that his parents had disowned his brothers for leaving the Academy.

"How many brothers do you have?"

"Fo—three." Sebastien stumbled over his answer.

"Sounds like you started to say four." Silver mused. "What happened to the fourth one?"

"Gone." Sebastien replied.

"You mean dead?"

"No."

"What happened to him?"

Sebastien knew that he hadn't told his teammates about his fourth brother. "He was taken from the Academy along with another."

"What--?"

Gold cut off his partner. "Stop asking boring questions."

"What do you want me to ask?"

"Nothing, I'll ask." Gold retorted. He stepped down harder on the White Ranger's back. "What were you doing at the party?"

Sebastien bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. He didn't want to answer. The answers weren't good, but he didn't have a choice. He chose the safer thing to say hoping the Psychos wouldn't push.

"Drinking."

"Alcohol?"

"Yes."

The two Psychos laughed. Silver elbowed his teammate. "I thought the boss said this stuff would make him tell the truth."

"I think he is." Gold replied with laughter still in his voice. "A Ranger drinking underage? Priceless. What else were you doing?"

"Listening to music."

Outside the shield Hunter could tell that Sebastien was giving the easy answers. He could sense that Sebastien was avoiding something. His curiosity had him listening to every word being said.

"What else?" Silver demanded.

"Talking."

Gold growled and kicked Sebastien hard in the ribs. Silver grabbed one of his arms and wrenched it backwards nearly dislocating the shoulder. Sebastien cried out but the hold forced him to lie perfectly still.

"What's the worst thing you were doing at the party?" Silver demanded.

The Rangers held their breath. All of them could tell that this is what he had been hiding. Hunter knew that whatever Sebastien was about to say shamed the Ice Ranger deeply and had the younger boy convinced they were going to hate him.

"Drugs."

There was a collective gasp from the Rangers outside the shield. At the same time the two Psycho Rangers burst into fits of laughter.

"Which ones?" Silver asked through his laughter. He couldn't believe a Ranger had been doing drugs.

"Hammer." Sebastien wanted to cry. His darkest secret had just been revealed. He was sure everyone would hate him. He had been off partying and doing drugs while his whole academy disappeared.

Cam winced. He knew from reading a few articles that Hammer was a relatively new, yet popular drug. It was cheap and potent. The effects were euphoria and a false sense of calm. But the after effects were harsh. A person coming off of it would be desperate for another high. Many addicts had stolen money from those around them to pay for the drugs. Others had done more desperate things. Many became violent. And the withdrawal was said to be on par with harsher drugs like heroin.

Silver was laughing so hard he loosened his grasp on Sebastien's arm. Gold had stepped off his back and was doubled over. They found a drug addict Ranger more than a little amusing. Sebastien was NOT amused. He was humiliated and pissed off. He made a move to yank his arm free, but Silver tightened his hold again and wrenched the arm cruelly. Sebastien cried out as he felt his shoulder dislocate. Agony flared as Silver continued to crank on it doing even more damage.

"I think we've found out everything we really wanted to know." Gold mused. "Now we can torture and kill you."

Silver released the arm as he and Gold jerked Sebastien his feet. The motion jarred the dislocated shoulder and Sebastien barely bit back a scream of pain. Instantly the two Psychos got to work on him. Both of them used their weapons. The slicing motions only made his suit spark and served to send him spinning to the ground, but any stabs cut through his suit like a hot knife through butter. Sebastien was barely on his feet and as vicious kick to the head took him to the ground for the last time.

Outside the shield Cam was in desperate communication with Sizvu. The rest of the Rangers were uselessly trying to beat on the shield. It was simply tearing them apart having to watch their teammate being slowly killed right in front of them. If Sizvu didn't break the shield within a few minutes their white clad teammate would be dead.

"Say goodbye to Sebastien, Rangers." Psycho Gold called out.

In a flash of light Sizvu appeared with something that looked simply like a sword. He made three quick swipes and a portion of the shield shimmered away. Instantly Hunter and Blake threw twin bolts of lightning at the two Psycho Rangers. Cam and Tori went to Sebastien's side and used the hole in the shield to transport away. The two Psycho Rangers suddenly found themselves facing four angry rangers as Sizvu switched the shield's frequency and reactivated the part that had been shut down. Before anything could be done Gold shot a blast of energy at the generator. As soon as the shield was gone the two Psychos transported away. Without a thought more the rest of the Rangers transported as well. They had a teammate to check on.

When they got to the infirmary they were surprised to find Sebastien struggling against Kardan. He was refusing to demorph and kept telling the doctor to leave him alone. Tori and Cam were trying to help but the Ice Ranger didn't seem to want help. Kardan had a sedative ready, but he couldn't get close enough to administer it.

"Lad, calm down and let me help you." Kardan tried to coax the white ranger.

"Don't deserve it." Sebastien bit out as he struggled against them. "I'm no Ranger."

"Why? Because you made a few mistakes?" Hunter spoke up. "At least you regret it or you wouldn't be so ashamed."

"The Ice Ranger morpher wasn't given to my by my Sensei." Sebastien revealed. His attention was momentarily off Tori and Cam as he talked to Hunter. "I found it in the cave I was hiding in. He never would have given it to me. I was just about to be kicked out of the Academy."

"Now isn't really the time to talk about this kid." Hunter replied. "You should let Kardan fix you up."

"Don't deserve it."

"I realize you're ashamed of what you've done, but it's nothing to give your life over." Hunter tried to reason with him. Then it came to him what was really bothering Sebastien. "And despite what you might think we don't hate you now."

Instantly it was clear he had chosen the right words. Sebastien relaxed and allowed Tori to lean him back on the bed. He didn't protest as Kardan used the demorphing device on him. There was a look of deep gratefulness on his face as he gazed back at Hunter. Then he succumbed to the blackness of unconsciousness as Kardan really got to work.

Hunter jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see Dustin grinning in approval. "That was a really good thing you just did Hunter."

"I just hope he believed me."

"I think he did." Dustin replied. "But if he didn't we'll make him."


	8. Truth Comes Out

Dustin sighed as he sat down. Kardan had suggested he get his name engraved in gold on the chair because of how often he was sitting in it. Dustin hoped Sebastien wasn't down that long. He was spending a lot of time beside the kid's bed. He didn't want Sebastien to wake up alone. The only time he left the infirmary willingly was to go to the restroom. Hunter had to force him to eat and sleep. The only way Dustin did that was if someone else was sitting with Sebastien. He really didn't want the kid to wake up alone.

"You might be lucky today lad, he's twitched a few times." Kardan said. "All his vitals are lookin' nice he should be wakin' any day now."

"He isn't in a coma, right?" Dustin asked, glancing briefly at the doctor.

"Nay lad, just sleepin' while his body heals."

Dustin nodded and looked down at Sebastien only to see a pair of crystal blue eyes watching him. "Hey, how do you feel?"

"Ugh." Sebastien grunted. His eyes closed briefly before slowly opening again. "Water?"

Dustin glanced questioningly at Kardan and found the doctor already filling a glass. Kardan brought the water over and they both watched as Sebastien slowly drank. He seemed to be trying to avoid something and Dustin knew what. Sebastien didn't want to talk about all the things that had been revealed. Dustin didn't blame him, but it needed to be discussed.

"Sebastien?"

The sixteen year old swallowed the last of the water. "Yeah?"

"We need to talk. Not now, but sometime soon."

"Why wait?" Sebastien said with a sigh. "It's out there I might as well talk about it now. Get it over with instead of brewing over it."

"Why turn to drugs?" Dustin asked. "Was your home life that bad?"

"Not everyone who does drugs does it because of a bad home life." Sebastien replied. He laughed humorlessly. "My brothers would give me an earful if they knew."

"You haven't answered my question. Why drugs?" Dustin asked, this time more serious than before.

Sebastien bit his lip and let out a long sigh. "My parents were pushing my training really hard. They said I had more natural ability than any of by brothers, except C...except one. They didn't want me to follow my brothers and leave the Academy." He paused for a moment as if trying to decide what to say next. "I found a box in their room. A box full of letters my brothers had been writing me for years. I thought they had simply forgotten me, but it turns out my parents were hiding everything including birthday cards and a few presents. I was furious. I confronted them and all they had to say was I had no right poking around in their room." Sebastien's face grew dark. "I began to rebel against them. I skipped classes and would come home at late hours. I froze my tutor out of the room so many times she refused to teach me anymore. I got into fights with other students at the Academy. Then I started going to parties."

"Did you get a tattoo and piercings too?" Dustin asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Sebastien snorted. "Can't get those without parent permission."

"Right, sorry, go ahead."

"At this point even my girlfriend was getting fed up with me. When I started sneaking out at night to go to parties and coming back late at night drunk and/or high she drew the line. She broke up with me."

"Why did you start using drugs in the first place?" Dustin asked. "I still don't understand why you would start."

"Peer pressure. It started with weed, but I was quickly introduced to a better and cheaper drug. Hammer."

"I've never heard of it." Dustin said with a frown.

"I wouldn't be surprised. It's fairly new to the market. It's the perfect drug. There's so many ways to take it and it's very, very cheap. It's the cheapest thing out there except for maybe over the counter meds." Sebastien explained. "Unfortunately, it's also very, very addictive. First hit and you're hooked and it has the worst withdrawal."

"You went through your withdrawal alone, didn't you?"

Sebastien winced, remembering the pain and agony. "Yeah, I did. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but I blamed the drugs for not being there to help protect the Academy. Despite everything my parents have done to my brothers and me, I still love them. And Heather...I think I love her too and I wasn't there to protect any of them."

"They're still alive on Lothor's ship." Dustin replied. "We'll get them back, don't worry."

Sebastien was silent for a while. Dustin worried that his friend was going to pull back into his shell and that all his hard work had been for nothing. But his worrying was for nothing as Sebastien broke the silence.

"What was it like, having your Sensei give you your powers?"

Dustin smiled fondly at the memory. "Well, first there was the exhilaration of being able to say 'I told ya so' to Shane and Tori, because they didn't believe in Power Rangers. Then I realized that I was joining an elite group of protectors who put their lives on the line to keep the planet safe. I had never felt more proud or so humbled with the extent of what I had to live up to. But I was bound and determined not to let it change me and to be the light side when things got dark."

"Wow." Sebastien rubbed his face tiredly. "I never got that honor. My Sensei didn't present me with my power like yours did. I know for a fact he wouldn't have given it to me."

"Why, because you were a little misguided?"

"No, because I beat the living crap out of his son."

"Oh."

"But I was defending my brothers' honor." Sebastien added. "I think that's the only reason I wasn't kicked out of the Academy."

The conversation moved easily to a lighter topic. Sebastien seemed happy enough to talk about his brothers, though he completely avoided the subject of his missing brother. Dustin asked, but didn't push it when Sebastien evaded the question. Eventually Sebastien fell asleep again and Dustin felt a little better. When Kardan suggested he go eat lunch with the others, the Yellow Ranger went without protest. Kardan smiled and tucked the blankets around the young White Ranger before going to eat as well.

ZzZzZ

It was a dark planet even before Mikiha stopped her armada there. Anasis III was dead save for two beings. One was a being so dark and evil that Mikiha could sense him even in passing. He was her reason for stopping. She wanted him, needed him on her side. The other had a connection to the Gems of Power and that made the being nothing more than a pawn. Mikiha ordered the armada to stand by while she used her energy form to go down to the planet and confront the two.

What she found didn't surprise her. The two beings were fighting one another. The evil, being was one she recognized as a Dark Ranger, but she knew from the information she had stolen from the fools that set her free that the new term was Rogues. This one seemed darker than any she had ever seen before and more than that she could sense a great many ranger powers concealed within him.

The other was something new to her. It looked like a ranger, but was quite different. She sensed a deep connection to a Gem of Power, but that made no sense. Rangers, especially those who drew power from the Morphing Grid, could not use the Gems of Power. How then was this one morphed like a Ranger? The answer came from the knowledge she'd stolen. _Psycho Ranger, huh? That might come in handy._

Without much effort Mikiha reached out to the Gem of Power in the Psycho Ranger's suit and caused a ripple in the power. The blue armored warrior faltered and the dark adversary took advantage and struck out catching the Psycho Ranger with a stiff kick to the face. The Blue Psycho Ranger went down hard and the dark Rogue moved to stand over the fallen warrior.

"Come now Aurias, you didn't really think it would be that easy did you?" The Rogue questioned tauntingly. "And you have only yourself to blame for what befell your home world. You sent me there."

"You took advantage of me!" Aurias snarled. "You dog-faced rat, I thought you really cared."

"Then it is your fault for forgetting who you were dealing with."

"As interesting as all this is, I'm afraid I'm going to have to break this up." Mikiha said, striding forward. She smiled darkly at the Rogue as the dark armored ex-ranger snapped his head up to look at her.

"You're a Dohri." The Rogue said, surprised by her sudden appearance. "What do you want?"

"To offer you a position in my army." Mikiha replied.

"And if I refuse?"

"I think you already know the answer to that."

The Rogue was quiet for a few moments before he started to laugh. "Does your army come with benefits?"

"You get to enjoy causing as much havoc as you wish in return you obey my every command." Mikiha replied.

"I already create as much havoc as I want. You're going to have to try a little harder than that."

"I'll humor you, simply because I like a Ranger gone bad. With me you can reach planets you never knew existed with more Ranger teams to decimate than you could ever reach on your own."

"Now that's tempting." The Rogue said. He then laughed again, a dark and menacing sound, before bowing low. "Shadow Rogue, at your services M'lady."

Mikiha nodded before turning her attention to the fallen Psycho Ranger. "Now you, get to your feet."

Aurias felt her own body betray her as she got to her feet without any control. She felt a terrible flashback from when Samous had become a Holder. He hadn't been one long enough to fully grasp his new powers, but the one she was suddenly faced with had been a Holder for a long time. This Holder had complete control of her power and apparently knew how to control others through their Gems.

"You will serve me as well." Mikiha said, forcing Aurias to walk toward her. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Aurias's rebellious nature instantly flared and for a moment she thought of telling the crazy Holder to shove it, but her instincts kept her quiet. She was in a no win situation. The Holder could control her easily no matter if she wanted to obey commands or not. Her best bet now was to play along and wait for the perfect chance to get away.

"I'll serve you." Aurias finally said.

"Good. Now, tell me about your wayward teammate. I think a Crimson Psycho Ranger will make a perfect addition to my army."

ZzZzZ

"You stubborn old fools! Peace will never come to this world while you clutch onto old ways like the close minded buzzards you are!"

"Ambassador Terik, might we remind you that it wasn't too long ago you were banished!" Minister Erenis boomed.

"Might I remind you that it was through me that we've found a cure for the Plague? Do I need to remind you that I was appointed by popular vote on BOTH sides to be the Peace Ambassador?" Terik thundered. "I WILL bring peace to our war torn planet even if I have to rally for re-elections on BOTH sides!"

"You ask too much too quick. There are years of hatred and bad blood that cannot be dispelled as quickly as you wish." Prime Minister Sonnal said, trying to bring order back to the assembly that was quickly getting out of control.

"It's not as hard as you'd like to make it out to be." Terik replied. "The People want peace. It's only the military and weapons corporations on both sides that want the war to continue."

"In case you've forgotten _Ambassador_, the People don't run the country." Erenis sneered.

Terik's whole demeanor quickly changed. A dark look crossed his face and he turned a fierce glare on the Minister that had once been his ruler. "No _Minister_, I haven't forgotten. Nor have I forgotten how you ordered the ambush on the peace treaty years ago or how you ordered the execution of any of the males in our country who refused to fight. No, Minister Erenis, unfortunately for you I have a very good memory."

The assembly erupted into outrage. Both sides were furious. Even Erenis's own people hadn't known about the ambush. Terik shot a satisfied smirk at the Minister as a cry for justice went around the room. He knew that without Erenis constantly trying to disrupt the peace talks a lot more was going to be accomplished.

Terik opened his mouth to say something more when he felt a tug on his shirt. Glancing to the side he saw his new assistant looking anxious. "Ambassador, a message was just received for you from someone named Aurias."

"What did she say?" Terik demanded.

"She said back to Earth."

"Back to Earth?" Terik repeated. "Why would she go back there? No matter, prepare a shuttle I'm leaving as soon as I'm finished here."

"Yes Ambassador."

ZzZzZ

"Do you realize at this rate we're going to fail high school?" Tori commented that night at dinner.

"In all the commotion I completely forgot about school." Shane mused. "What are we going to do? We can't fail school."

"School is important." Sensei agreed. "However, I fear there is nothing to be done about it. You are not safe if you are unmorphed."

"Our secret identities should have been from everyone, especially the bad guys." Tori said.

"At least our parents know where we are." Dustin said. "I'm glad you allowed us to tell them the truth Sensei."

"Lying is not the way of the Wind Ninja." Sensei replied easily. "They needed to know where you are and why you cannot return home."

"But we can't tell the school that." Shane said.

"No, you cannot." Sensei agreed.

"Did you guys have this kind of problem?" Tori asked, looking at some of the alien Rangers.

"On our planet Rangers were honored as great warriors, but we had no need to keep our identities secret." Kardan replied. "I don't fully understand why it's of such importance here."

"Because we would be hassled by everyone. We wouldn't have a real life anymore." Shane explained. "Our identities have to remain secret."

"You could home school." Sebastien suggested, glad to have been allowed out of the infirmary for dinner. "Your parents know you're Rangers, I'm sure they wouldn't mind doing all the paperwork."

Sensei nodded his approval. "That is a good idea Sebastien."

"Well, that's one problem solved. Now we just need to come up with a plan to defeat Kalix once and for all." Hunter said.

Dustin carefully scrutinized his teammates and then the rest of the Rangers. The mood was solemn and felt oppressive. Something needed to be done. He knew just what to do.

Hunter jumped as something wet and slimy struck his cheek. He reached up his hand and wiped his face and looked down at the mix of mashed potatoes and corn. His eyes narrowed slightly and he looked across the table at the person he knew was responsible. The Yellow Ranger was trying to look innocent as he ate. At first Hunter thought about snapping at him for being so childish, but he quickly realized what Dustin was trying to do. The biting remark died instantly and instead he decided to fight fire with fire. He used his spoon to gather a heap of some kind of alien vegetable and then flicked it at the Yellow Ranger.

Unfortunately his aim was off just enough to not only catch Dustin, but Tori as well. The Blue Ranger's head snapped up and she glowered at him as pieces of the pink vegetable stuck in her hair. Hunter's eyes went wide and he ducked his head as she threw her roll at him. The roll struck Sebastien instead. The White Ranger flicked a spoonful of gravy all over both Dustin and Tori. Blake stood up from his position on the other side of Tori and beamed Sebastien with another roll, apparently defending Tori. Not to be left out Shane took the opportunity to fling some of his own mashed potatoes, which struck Hunter on the other side of his face. With that the food fight began in earnest.


	9. Author's Note

Author's note. Normally I wouldn't do this, I hate seeing these damn things on other people's stories, but I feel it only fair to explain what's about to happen. I'm not happy with where this is going. I had the idea to make this huge epic, because I like big. The problems comes from the fact that I lost track of any kind of storyline. And what storyline I have isn't working for me. I'm going to go back to what this story was originally supposed to be about. Power Rangers vs. Psycho Rangers. Not to say I won't go big with it, but I'm going to focus more on what it was supposed to be about. I'm also fleshing out more of the details, because I was unfortunatley doing a lot of that as I was going along. That was also a mistake and I hope to fix that this time around. Some minor things are going to be changing, maybe even some big things. I would say forget everything you know, but that's not necessarily true. Just be prepared for changes. I can't say how quickly this re-write is going to come about. I can't promise it'll be quick. I won't even promise that it's coming. I can say I'm going to do my best to make the new series better than this one. As a parting note I want to thank anyone still reading this series. I hope the second time around will be more entertaining and hard hitting than the first time was.


End file.
